Qatar Airways (QR, Doha International (DOH)) through its CEO, Akbar Al Baker, says it is “not interested” in purchasing a 12% stake in the International Airlines Group (IAG) currently held by Spain's nationalized lender, Bankia. The news comes after The Financial Times recently reported that the state of Qatar had sounded out IAG, the owner of British Airways (BA, London Heathrow (LHR)), Vueling Airlines (VY, Barcelona El Prat International (BCN)) and Iberia (IB, Madrid Barajas (MAD)), with an informal offer to become the company's largest shareholder by buying the 12% stake held by Bankia. Al Baker also said he was “not aware” that any other Qatari entity had an interest in the Bankia stake. “Any other entity will not get into any kind of discussion in an airline, or an airline stake, without asking Qatar Airways,” said Al Baker. Qatar already has a prominent investment in UK aviation after Qatar Holding, an investment arm of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, last year agreed to buy a 20% stake in Heathrow airport Holdings, the owner of London Heathrow (LHR), for GBP900million. Akbar Al Baker is one of two Qatari representatives on the Heathrow board.

Qatar Airways (QR, Doha International (DOH)) is to tentatively join Oneworld in October this year, the airline's CEO, Akbar al-Baker has said. Speaking in Dubai recently, Mr al-Baker said that Qatar Airways was "well advanced in integrating its processes and systems" with the global alliance, paving the way for it to become its second Middle Eastern carrier alongside Royal Jordanian (RJ, Amman Queen Alia International (AMM)), who joined in 2007. In a related development, British Airways (BA, London Heathrow (LHR)), the sponsors of Qatar Airways' entry into the alliance, are said to be in discussions with the Gulf carrier regarding a possible joint venture on routes between Australia and the UK. Should a deal come about, it would replace a similar one BA had with Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith (SYD)) but which ended when the Australian carrier tied up with Emirates (EK, Dubai International (DXB)) in March this year.

Aer Lingus (EI, Dublin International (DUB)) has confirmed earlier reports by ch-aviation and several newspapers and will damp-lease three B757-200s from Air Contractors (AG, Dublin International (DUB)) from early next year. It plans to mainly use the aircraft on transatlantic routes with lower demand including its routes from Shannon International (SNN) to both Boston General Edward Lawrence Logan International (BOS) and New York John F. Kennedy International (JFK). Aer Lingus is also considering launching new routes with the aircraft that will be flown by Air Contractors pilots but with Aer Lingus cabin crew. Aer Lingus CEO Christoph Mueller has announced plans to increase the amount of outsourced flying by Aer Lingus on behalf of other carriers as part of its future development plan (that also includes voluntary redundancy packages being offered for 100 of its staff). The Irish national carrier currently operates four A320-200s on behalf of Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow (LHR)) from London Heathrow and will wet-lease one of its A330-200s to Novair (N9, Stockholm Arlanda (ARN)) for the next two winter seasons to operate charter services between Scandinavia and the Caribbean. Aer Lingus plans to lease one of its slot pairs to British Airways (BA, London Heathrow (LHR)) during the summer season and has asked its shareholders for approval to do given it would be more expensive to operate the flights itself to keep the slots.

British Airways (BA, London Heathrow (LHR)) is to become the latest operator of Airbus' planned A350-1000 after the airline's parent, the International Airlines Group (IAG), placed a USD6billion order with Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac (TLS)) encompassing 18 firm orders for the type along with 18 options. An added contract worth USD1.6billion has been awarded to engine manufacturer, Rolls-Royce, for its Trent XWB engines. The first IAG aircraft is due to be delivered in 2018 with added plans to convert 18 options for Boeing's B787-9s into firm orders. Together with the newly ordered A350s, both these aircraft types will be used to replace the airline's 52 B747-400s by 2023. British Airways is also said to be considering Boeing's upgraded version of its hugely successful Boeing 777 family, the Boeing 777X, though this is dependant on the aircraft's performance specifications. IAG added that it was still in talks with Airbus and Boeing (BOE, Chicago O'Hare International (ORD)) to secure more planes for Spanish unit Iberia (IB, Madrid Barajas (MAD)).

bmi regional (BM, Aberdeen International (ABZ)) could drop its "Regional" suffix after its new owner secured full ownership of the bmi brand, including various web domains, earlier this month. Since the sale of bmi british midland (BD, East Midlands (EMA)) to the International Airlines Group (IAG) and its subsequent merger with British Airways (BA, London Heathrow (LHR)) last year, bmi regional has been busy establishing itself as an independent airline which has involved securing full GDS participation and setting up a new corporate headquarters at East Midlands (EMA). The airline is also launching new branding and marketing campaigns with greater focus on leisure traffic, though its traditional business niche will still play a strong role as seen by the launch of its most recent route from Bristol International (BRS) to Frankfurt International (FRA). As part of plans to attract new clients the airline plans to launch its own new frequent flyer program, as it no longer holds the rights to predecessor bmi british midland's Diamond Club frequent flyer brand.