Cash-strapped Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co (海航集團) has put up for sale its luxurious US$300 million-plus Boeing 787 corporate “Dream Jet” with registration “2-DEER,” six aviation industry sources familiar with the matter said.
The 40-seat jet, used for charters as well as by top HNA officials, recently carried Cambodian President Hun Sen to the UN General Assembly in New York and flew between Brazzaville and Beijing on dates coinciding with a visit to China by Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso.
Under pressure from Beijing, aviation-to-hotels group HNA has this year sold real estate, stakes in overseas companies and aviation-related assets after a US$50 billion acquisition spree in recent years.
One of the industry sources said HNA was attempting to sell the fleet in its wholly owned private Deer Jet division and then shut it down.
It could prove difficult to attract close to the purchase price for the 40-seat 787 due to the limited market for widebody private jets, which are usually bought by governments or billionaires who prefer to select their own interior design, two of the sources said on condition of anonymity.
A 787-8 business jet has a list price of US$232 million, but the interiors typically cost US$90 million to US$170 million, according to Boeing.
The jet was put on the market in late July, after the death of HNA cochairman Wang Jian (王健) in an accidental fall in France, another source said, adding that Deer Jet’s Beijing office is open to serious offers and has not assigned a jet broker.
HNA’s 787 was unveiled publicly in 2016 at a European business jet show and has been available for VIP charters, including for world leaders, at a cost of about US$74,000 an hour.
Boeing said it had sold 15 787 business jets, with 12 delivered to date.
Two other Boeing 787 business jets globally are also for sale, sources said.
HNA and Deer Jet declined to comment on 2-DEER.
They were not immediately available for comment on whether the rest of the fleet was for sale after Bloomberg yesterday first reported that Deer Jet was looking to sell “dozens of jets.”
Since January, HNA has sold or agreed to sell more than US$20 billion in assets, including real estate in Sydney, New York and Hong Kong, according to Reuters calculations and media reports.
“We do understand that as they are doing the corporate restructuring they are intending to sell the 787,” one of the sources said. “It is a very expensive aircraft, due to the operational costs.”
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