The default comes despite the group having sold more than €15 billion in assets this year to stave off the liquidity crunch.

Last month the aviation-to-hotels conglomerate also began to miss payments to individual investors through online direct P2P financing platforms. The company also almost failed another loan worth €124 million.

HNA’s debt stood at €77 billion at the end of last year, according to the company’s annual financial report.

The company has a stake in the private consortium Atlantic Gateway, which holds 45% of TAP. The Portuguese government retains a 50% stake in TAP, with the remaining 5% being in the hands of its employees.

China’s Capital Airlines, one of HNA’s subsidiaries, in July 2017 launched the first direct flight between China and Portugal. However shortly after a year, the company announced the flight would be suspended between October and March.

HNA, which has shares in firms including Hilton Hotels, Swissport or Deutsche Bank, is already under the supervision of a group of bank creditors, led by the China Development Bank.