(Yicai Global) Dec. 15 -- Hainan Airlines Holding, which passed out of the control of bankrupted Chinese conglomerate HNA Group a year ago, said affiliate HNA Airlines Group plans to sell a 47.9 percent stake in Tianjin Airlines for CNY1 (14 US cents).

HNA Airlines will sell the shares to Haikou Zhenping Investment, an unrelated firm, Haikou-based Hainan Airlines announced yesterday, without disclosing the reasons behind the sale.

As a result, HNA Airlines’ stake in Tianjin Airlines will drop to 0.1 percent. Hainan Airlines will own 47.8 percent of the Tianjin-based carrier, Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone Investment 4.2 percent, and Zhenping Investment the remaining 47.9 percent.

Hainan Airlines will continue to provide operation, system, capital, and resource investment support to Tianjin Airlines, in accordance with the existing management model as one of the shareholders, assuming the responsibility of safe operation together with Tianjin Airlines, The Paper reported today, citing a manager at Hainan Airlines.

Shares of Hainan Airlines [SHA: 600221] fell 3.1 percent to CNY1.86 (27 US cents) today.

Last December, Fangda Group Industrial invested CNY41 billion (USD5.8 billion) to take over all of debt-ridden HNA Group’s airlines. HNA Airlines controls part of other carriers acquired by Fangda, such as Capital Airlines and Tianjin Airlines, while Hainan Airlines controls yet others, such as Hainan Airlines and Xinhua Airlines.

Tianjin Airlines’ net assets were CNY23 billion (USD3.3 billion) in the red as of Sept. 30. In the first three quarters of the year, the airline had a net profit of CNY1.2 billion (USD172 million) on revenue of CNY2.7 billion.

Revenue at Hainan Airlines slumped 31 percent to CNY18.7 billion in the nine months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier, with the firm’s net loss widening over six-fold to CNY20.8 billion.

Editor: Futura Costaglione