Hong Kong Airlines says it has acquired enough cash to pay its staff

Hong Kong Airlines on Wednesday said it had drawn up an “initial cash injection plan” that would allow them to pay remaining staff on Thursday as soon as the funds arrived, according to an internal memo from company chairman Hou Wei. Hong Kong’s third largest airline was given five days, since Monday, to find substantial – and unspecified – amounts of new capital to keep the business afloat, as its cash in hand fell below what was considered in keeping with its licence to fly, the Air Transport Licencing Authority. The body earlier delivered an ultimatum to the airline that a failure to find new cash or investors before Saturday could lead to the suspension, or even termination, of its licence. HNA Group, the controlling shareholder of Hong Kong Airlines, declined to comment on whether a HK$4.4 billion loan it obtained from a range of Chinese state-owned banks on Monday would go to the stricken carrier.<br/>