Turkish and Chinese airline companies sign strategic investment agreement

ISTANBUL (A.A) - July 21, 2011 - Turkish airline company ACT Airlines and one of China's biggest air carriers HNA have signed a strategic investment agreement.
Speaking at a press briefing held Thursday in Istanbul to introduce the new partnership, Turkish Deputy Undersecretary for Foreign Trade Ibrahim Senel said Turkey aimed at catching the momentum in its political relations with China in commercial and economic ties as well.
Pointing to the frequent visits paid by Turkish delegations to China in recent years, Senel said the two countries had also expressed their will to reach a trade volume of 50 billion USD by the year 2015 and 100 billion USD by 2020 in line with their economic potentials.  
Delivering a speech, HNA Group's Director Tan Xiangdong said the Chinese group was eager to increase its investments in Turkey, adding that HNA's cooperation with ACT would mainly focus on cargo transportation.
ACT's founding partner & CEO Yavuz Cizmeci, on his part, said that HNA had made an investment of 25 million USD and had provided his company with 3 latest-technology cargo planes as part of the cooperation agreement.
Headquartered in Istanbul, ACT Airlines offers air cargo services. The airline received the prestigious SCATA (Supply Chain and Transport Award) for "The Air Cargo Operator of the Year" in 2007.
HNA is a China-based privately-owned air transport company which operates scheduled domestic and international flights, as well as charter services to hundreds of destinations all across the world. The company has been ranked as a 5-star airline by the independent research consultancy firm Skytrax.