Turkish Airlines reportedly mulling Virgin Australia stake
Turkish Airlines is reportedly mulling the purchase of HNA Group’s minority stake in Virgin Australia Holdings.
HNA’s 20% stake has been open to offers for a long time since the Chinese conglomerate found its huge debt pile unmanageable.
According to people familiar with the matter, talks with Turkish Airlines are at a preliminary stage and won’t necessarily end in a deal.
Other suitors for the stake have included existing shareholders Singapore Airlines and Nanshan Capital, Bloomberg reports.
It has spent the past couple of years offloading airline and hotel stakes, real estate and other assets to cut debt.
It managed to rack up one of the biggest corporate debt loads in China’s history thought to be in excess of 40 billion.
HNA still owns a portfolio of about a dozen airline businesses including HNA Airlines and Tianjin Airlines.
Neither party has acknowledged a deal is being discussed, although Turkish Airlines has made no secret of its desire to expand in Asia Pacific.
Based on current share price, the market values Virgin Australia at about at about A$1.4 billion ($957 million).
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Global tourism exceeds 1.5 billion travelers announces UN-Tourism
Qatar Airways offers reduced timetable to over 60 destinations
WTTC global tourism reached record economic impact of 11 trillion in 2025
Marginal increase for New York City tourism in 2025
Hands In, UATP join forces for airline multi-card payments