Founded in 1993, Hainan Airlines Co., Ltd. is China’s fourth-largest airline in terms of fleet size. Its primary base is Haikou Meilan International Airport, while Beijing Capital International Airport and Xi’an Xianyang International Airport are the hubs.
Hainan Airlines is a private Chinese airline founded in 1993. The main activity of the company is domestic and international scheduled flights. Today the company occupies one of the leading positions in international air transport between China and other countries. About 600 international and domestic flights connect 90 cities around the world.
Actually, the company was established in October 1989 and was called Hainan Province Airlines. In January 1993, it was renamed Hainan Airlines, at that time the first joint-stock air transport company in China. The airline began scheduled flights in May of the same year.
Since the early 1990s, Hainan Airlines has been actively developing and soon could afford to buy a Bombardier business jet designed to carry VIPs. Later, the carrier launched a flight safety program, which enabled it to gain the trust of passengers and the respect of aviation authorities.
In 2011, its efforts were also recognized by Skytrax, which awarded the company the highest 5-star rating for the care and reliability of its aircraft, first-class service and well-thought-out entertainment system.
What is Hainan Airlines?
Hainan Airlines is the name of the China’s largest private airline, ranking 4th among Chinese airlines in terms of passenger and fleet volume. Hainan Airlines operates more than 1,400 domestic and international flights to 200 cities around the world. It is the only Chinese airline rated 5 stars in the Skytrax rating for 7 consecutive years.
The original Hainan Airlines logo was created in 1989 and looked very progressive for its times, as was executed in a very interesting and artsy manner, with abstract elements and a traditional color palette. The badge featured just two parts: the blue “wing” formed by three vertical “feathers”, arched and placed vertically on the right of the badge, and a graceful and sophisticated dark red silhouette of a deer, drawn in a diagonal leap to the right over the blue wave. There was no inscription or any literate flight-related symbols, just these two extremely elegant elements, which created an amazing mood and style.
Everything changed with the redesign of 1993. This is when the wordmark appears on the logo, and the reindeer are being replaced by something more obvious — a stylized Phoenix bird. The graphical emblem was now set on the left from the lettering, being drawn in orange and red, with some torn lines, accenting feathers. As for the logotype, it was written in two levels, with the Chinese name of the company set above the English version. The bottom line of the text part was executed in the title case of a smooth sans-serif typeface with stencils in the letters “A” and some sharp leaned details on the “I” fonts and the capital “A” in the “Airlines”.
The lettering part remained untouched but changed its color from black to red with the redesign of 2004. As for the graphical part, it was completely rethought. The two-colored abstract Phoenix was replaced by a red composition, also resembling a bird, but drawn in a more modern and clean manner. The creature had its wings arched up, around the head which was depicted as an enlarged solid dot. Something in the image made it look like a figure of a human, something — like a bird, and it could even seem a bit confusing, as the curved on the bottom of the emblem also could make it resemble a fleur-de-lis symbol. Too many meanings for one image.
The Hainan Airlines logo is vivid and eye-catching. Partly, this effect is due to the choice of color – the bright shade of red stands out against almost any background.
The design comprises an abstract symbol and the name of the company. In the full version of the logo, the company name is given both in Chinese and English.
The stable uppercase lettering from the primary logo of Hainan Airlines, is set in a clean geometric sans-serif typeface with straight distinctive bars of the characters. The closest fonts to the one, used in this insignia, are, probably, Futura Bt Pro Medium, or Cosmata Semi Bold.
As for the color palette of the Hainan Airlines visual identity, it is based in intense shade of red, a commonly known symbol of power, professionalism and passion. The depth of the red makes the badge of the air carrier look very strong and eye-catching.