In an interview with The Times Chen Feng said “the chance has come” but that the deal was still under discussion.
Rumours of a potential link-up between the owner of Hainan Airlines and the Luton-based carrier first surfaced in April.
Sky News reported that HNA had hired bankers to look into the possible acquisition of a minority shareholding.
HNA has been on a spending spree in recent months. It completed a deal for luggage handler Swissport in February and took a 13% stake in Virgin Australia in May.
Subsidiary HNA Tourism Group announced that it had entered an agreement to buy Carlson Hotels in April.
TTG has approached Monarch for comment.
