INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Al Baker said rule of allowing foreign entity to own up to 100% stake in Indian carriers is not clear.New Delhi: Qatar Airways will wait for
"another 12 months" to decide on setting up an airline in India as it seeks clarity on "ambiguous" foreign ownership norms, its chief Akbar
The comments come less than three months after Al Baker said that the Gulf carrier would soon be moving an application to launch a
full-service airline in India for domestic operations
Al Baker, who has been Qatar Airways' Group Chief Executive Officer for over two decades, said that the rule of allowing foreign entity to
100 per cent but a foreigner can
that if Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) owns 51 per cent and Qatar Airways has 49 per cent in an airline that is not allowed
from owning up to 100 per cent stake in local carriers
opportunity to invest in airlines in India
India is a huge aviation market
"We will lose interest in time because you know we have a fund we would like to invest
If we don't invest in time, then we would have to invest somewhere else," Al Baker said.It was in March 2017 that Al Baker first mentioned
about its plans for a carrier in India
whether it would be a majority or minority stake
return on investment, efficiently run and that has growth potential," he said
Noting that Qatar Airways does not want to take 2-3 per cent, Al Baker also said that it would look for substantial stake of "say 10 to 15
interest to IndiGo many times but they were not ready apart from the initial public offer
"India is such an important market
India is a sleeping economic giant
There is potential here that is not available in many other countries," Al Baker said even as he mentioned that double-digit growth does not
became Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive in 1997.
