The consortium between the Chinese company "Hainan" and "Plovdiv Airport Invest" was designated as a concessioner at Plovdiv Airport following a procedure. This was announced by the Council of Ministers. By its decision the Government authorizes the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications to conclude the concession contract within two months of the entry into force of the decision.
 
The concession is for 35 years and for that period the concessionaire undertakes to make investments in the site amounting to     79 083 000 euro. The funds are for the repair, maintenance and rehabilitation of the existing infrastructure, as well as the construction of new facilities.
 
After the grace period of 48 months, for each calendar year the concessionaire will make a payment consisting of a fixed and a variable part. A fixed part amounts to BGN 600 000 excluding VAT, and a variable part represents 6% of the total net income from all activities of the respective year related to the use of the concession object.
 
The concession procedure at Plovdiv Airport was opened on January 16, 2017.

On 18 May 2017 the offers received from three participants were opened: Silk Road Plovdiv Airport; "Consortium Plovdiv Airport"; Union (Consortium) between Hainan and Plovdiv Airport Invest. After examination of the documents, it was established that Silk Road Plovdiv Airport did not meet the selection criteria and the company was removed from the procedure. On 27 July 2017, the proposals and binding proposals of "Plovdiv Airport Consortium" and the Consortium between Hainan and Plovdiv Airport Invest are open to the public. The removed participant, Silk Road Plovdiv Airport, appealed the decision and the procedure was suspended until 1 March 2018 when the Supreme Administrative Court dismissed the appeal as unfounded, and the procedure was reopened. The Commission proceeded to evaluate the participants and ranked first the Consortium between Hainan and Plovdiv Airport Invest.
 
One of the participants in the Concessionary Group, HNA Group (Hain Group), currently has approximately $ 145 billion in assets, over $ 90 billion in revenue per year, and over 410,000 employees worldwide. The company's activities are in a variety of spheres, focusing primarily on aviation, technology, tourism, finance, innovation and logistics. Hainan Group manages 14 airlines with over 1250 aircraft operating 13 airports and over 1000 domestic and international lines. Annually, the company carries over 100 million passengers to over 260 cities.