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Speaking in an interview with the German DPA news agency on December 1, Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad Int'l) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Akbar Al Baker has strengthened his views on a potential partnership with Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt Int'l).

"If there is an opportunity to invest in Lufthansa, we would like to do that," he said adding that codeshare flights or a marketing cooperation could be other areas where Qatar Airways and Lufthansa could work together.

Al Baker has a history of being very open towards his Star Alliance competitor. In an interview with aeroTELEGRAPH last year he commented: "We don’t want to harm Lufthansa." The outspoken CEO added that while he wanted to grow his airline, it was not to be at the expense of other carriers. "If there is competition, there is also room for cooperation," he said when referring to the German airline.

Being in different global alliances could be an important consideration in any deal, but Al Baker seemed confident it would not be a barrier. "I have...

Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad Int'l) is considering increasing its 10% stake in LATAM Airlines Group after rival Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) announced it will buy a 20% stake in the South American holding, Reuters has reported.

Speaking to the media during the launch of the carrier's new service to Langkawi, Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker said that he had no prior notification of Delta's investment in LATAM. He added that as a minority shareholder, Qatar Airways had no direct influence over LATAM.

"We don’t dictate to LATAM how they should conduct their business. [It] is absolutely their prerogative with whom they want to have shareholding, with whom they want to work with," Al Baker said.

Following the Delta investment, LATAM said it will leave Oneworld and join Skyteam instead. Qatar Airways is a member of Oneworld, although Al Baker has repetitively threatened to leave over disagreements with American Airlines, which used to be LATAM's main US partner prior to the Delta...