Just two decades ago, on May 2, 1993, Hainan Airlines began operating from its tropical island home, Hainan, in the South China Sea. Within seven years, a holding company, HNA Group, had been set up above it. Affiliated airlines followed, along with businesses in corporate aviation, aircraft maintenance, airports, real estate, hotels, shipping, finance and much else.

A restructuring plan is bringing HNA Group’s Chinese passenger airlines under the control of the biggest and first of them—Hainan Airlines—which in turn is setting out to coordinate operations, align service levels and, in the case of two of the group’s carriers, try out low-cost operations.

The South Korean defense ministry has ensured production of the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) T-50 series until at least 2016 by ordering about 40 of the type’s light-attack variant, the FA-50. The ministry’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration has given KAI a 1.1 trillion won ($1.01 billion) contract for FA-50 production, the company says. It does not disclose the number of aircraft covered by the contract, but an industry official says it is “about 40.”