(Yicai) May 30 -- Hainan Airlines Holding has made its president the new chairman, in the second such appointment in the last 18 months, after the struggling Chinese carrier got off to a very promising start this year.

Zhu Tao will take over from Ding Yongzheng, who has served in the position since November 2022 and who remains chairman of parent firm HNA Aviation, financial news outlet The Paper reported today.

The appointment is still going through an internal process and so no public announcement has been made yet, the report said, citing a company insider.

47-year-old Zhu served as president of Hainan Airlines since July 2022. He is a company veteran and has worked for many airlines under HNA Aviation, including Lucky Air, West Air and Suparna Airlines. HNA Aviation owns 32 percent of Hainan Airlines.

49-year-old Ding became chairman of Hainan Airlines in November 2022, less than a year after Liaoning Fangda Group Industrial took control of Hainan-based HNA Aviation in late 2021 from bankrupt HNA Group. He was the third chairman to be appointed that year.

Hainan Airlines has bounced back from the downturn in the aviation industry during the pandemic. Last year it raked in net profit of CNY311 million (USD42.9 million), a big turnaround from the huge losses of CNY20.2 billion (USD2.8 billion) in 2022, according to its annual financial report. And revenue surged two-and-a-half fold to CNY58.6 billion.

It also got off to a very good start this year with net profit more than quadrupling in the first quarter from a year earlier to CNY687 million (USD95 million) while revenue jumped 33 percent to CNY17.6 billion (USD2.4 billion), according to its latest earnings report.

Editor: Kim Taylor