(Yicai Global) March 17 -- The chairman of Hainan Airlines Group has been detained along with another executive at HNA Group, three months after the steel manufacturer Fangda Group Industrial got the troubled conglomerate restructured, according to insiders.

Hainan Airlines Group' Chairman Bao Qifa has recently been taken away by police, Yicai Global learned from sources familiar with the matter. Bao was accompanied by Sun Mingyu, chairman of HNA's supervisory board.

The reason may be linked to Chen Feng’s case, the insiders added. Last September, Chen, who was HNA's chairman at the time, and Tan Xiangdong, the chief executive officer then, were taken away by police due to suspected criminal offenses.

On March 16, the legal representative of Hainan Airlines was changed to Wang Yingming from Bao, according to the corporate information platform Tianyancha. The firm has not commented on any changes in Bao's status. Since February 2020, three of the five original members of HNA Group' board of directors have left the company.

Shenzhen-based Fangda began restructuring the country's fourth-most valuable airline last December. It appointed Bao and other senior managers. Bao used to serve HNA as a board member. 

Haikou-based HNA sold a 95 percent stake in Hainan Airlines to Fangda late last year amid its debt issues. The remainder of equity is held by a trust, the beneficiaries of which are the carrier's creditors. HNA had debts of CNY1.1 trillion (USD171.8 billion) and assets of just over CNY500 billion (USD78.1 billion) as of last November.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi