Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) is planning to buy equity in a new airline in 2019, Air Transport World quoted Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker as saying during the Aviation Africa Summit.
Al Baker did not reveal which airlines the Qatari carrier is interested in. The group currently holds stakes in IAG International Airlines Group (21.46%), LATAM Airlines Group (10%), Cathay Pacific (9.6%), and AQA Holding, parent of Air Italy (49%). Al Baker has repetitively voiced his interest in investing in India, although it is understood to be separate from the equity plans for 2019.
He added that the plans are also independent of the current financial losses posted by the airline, mostly due to the ban imposed on Qatar Airways in several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
"We announced a loss last year and we will announce another loss this year but it doesn’t mean that Qatar Airways is not going to expand or invest," Al Baker said during the ITB travel fair.
Al Baker added that, contrary to earlier concerns, Qatar Airways will not need a state bailout to cover for its present losses.
Qatar Airways also has no plans to phase out ten A380-800s, despite the Airbus decision to end the production of the type in 2021.
Recently, the carrier announced new flights to Lisbon, Malta International, Rabat (via Marrakech), Langkawi, Davao (via Angeles City Clark International), Izmir Adnan Menderes, and Mogadishu (via Djibouti). Al Baker said that Qatar Airways would disclose a further seven new destinations in the second half of 2019.
