HNA Group’s West Air unit gets breathing space to complete stake sale

West Air, a Chinese budget carrier owned by the HNA Group, has persuaded some creditors to postpone receiving their bond payments, getting much-needed breathing space as its indebted parent company struggles for financial survival. The carrier, operating 35 aircraft from its base in Chongqing in central China, persuaded bondholders to withdraw 292m yuan (US$41.3m) of put options, according to West Air’s statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, where the bonds are traded. The 13-year old carrier eventually paid 235.9m yuan of bonds on April 7. The deferment is a relief for West Air’s parent HNA, one of China’s biggest global asset acquirers to emerge in the past two decades. China’s largest private-sector aviation conglomerate, HNA is under de facto state ward by the local authorities of Hainan province to trim its debt burden.<br/>