In a statement issued this week, the Brazilian airline said the deal would “bring important benefits for Azul”, in terms of financial strength, improved fleet renovation plans, customer products and services and debt amortisation.
Azul currently comes third in the market share in Brazil, after TAM and Gol, where it operates 900 flights a day to 100 destinations, while HNA is the fourth largest Chinese civil aviation group with about 630 domestic and international flights a day.
Neelman and Portuguese businessman Humberto Pedrosa own the Gateway consortium which has recently bought 61 percent of the capital of TAP, though this might now be in risk as Portugal’s president has just appointed Socialist leader António Costa as prime minister of a leftist government that has repeatedly expressed its opposition to the sale of TAP.