Heightened terrorism threat creates climate for price war as HNA moves in on TAP

A 7% stake in Portuguese flag carrier TAP will transfer from Atlantic Gateway, the private consortium that owns half of TAP, to HNA in the coming months as the latter will acquire part of the €90 million convertible bond in shares issued by Brazilian airline Azul to bail TAP out. Leaked information has stated that HNA will buy an initial 7% direct stake but that the HNA indirect stake could reach as much as 20%. In November 2015, HNA purchased 23.7% of Azul’s shares and thus this is a continuation of HNA’s investment in David Neelman’s aviation interests. Last Friday,