HNA offers investors free plane tickets in lieu of cash

A subsidiary of the struggling Chinese conglomerate HNA Group said it will repay investors with free tickets for HNA’s eponymous airline instead of cash.

The move is the latest sign that HNA is struggling to pay off its crippling debt load. The free tickets are meant to pay off investors in wealth management products sold by Qianhai Air & Shipping Exchange, Bloomberg reported.

HNA has already committed to selling $22 billion in stocks and real estate to pay off its lenders. Last week, The Real Deal reported that the company is in contract to sell its majority stake in 850 Third Avenue. As late as last year, HNA was one of New York’s most aggressive real estate investors. TRD chronicled the company’s fall from grace in its March issue.

“HNA is fully committed to meeting its obligations and we will actively oversee the repayment to all investors as detailed in Qianhai Air and Shipping Exchange’s public filing,” an HNA spokesperson told Bloomberg. [Bloomberg] — Konrad Putzier