Royal Air Maroc (AT, Casablanca Mohamed V International (CMN)) could be tied-up with a Gulf carrier ahead of a later privatisation, according to the country’s tourism minister, Haddah Lahcen. In an interview with ArabianBusiness, Mr Lahcen said regarding a possible deal with Emirates (EK, Dubai International (DXB)) or Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International (AUH)), that his government wouldn't rule that out as "they are very respectable, very big, well managed companies with a very good business model." On the issue of privatization, Mr Lahcen said there will be privatisation, but that it would "probably be some kind of strategic alliance with a good carrier." Last year, a 44% stake in the airline was mentioned as being "available" though no overt offers were ever made. The Moroccan national carrier has been a heavy drain on the North African kingdom's fiscus which, despite having been bailed out by Rabat to the tune of USD193million in 2011, has continued to accrue losses, the most recent being a USD672million knock posted in it's latest financial year.

Jet Airways (9W, Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International (BOM)) is reportedly set to place an order with Boeing (BOE, Chicago O'Hare International (ORD)) for fifty Boeing 737 MAX aircraft along with "eight to ten" B777-300(ER)s using USD220million in capital it received from Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International (AUH))'s 24% stake acquisition. The order, which is to be announced at the Paris Air Show in June, will form the backbone of the Indian carrier's domestic expansion plans with over 50 Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac (TLS)) A320neos set to be acquired for Jet's LCC wing, Jet Konnect (S2, Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International (BOM)). Part of Jet's revised strategy will involve funnelling passengers from 23 Indian cities through Abu Dhabi International (AUH) which will act as the airline's hub for flights to Europe, The Americas and beyond.

GoAir (G8, Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International (BOM)) has allegedly caught the eye of Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International (FRA)), Emirates (EK, Dubai International (DXB)) and Qatar Airways (QR, Doha International (DOH)) as stakes in Indian airlines are fast becoming a hot commodity among international carriers. According to India’s Economic Times, the Mumbai-based airline "is in talks with German carrier Lufthansa and Dubai-based Emirates and Qatar Airways, among others." Go Air had appointed Wall Street investment firm, JP Morgan, to find it fresh investment capital following a change in foreign direct investment (FDI) laws that now permit foreign carriers to hold up to 49 percent equity in Indian airlines. The announcement comes shortly after Qatar Airways boss, Akbar Al Baker, talked about a codeshare deal with IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi Indira Gandhi International (DEL)) but said that his airline "had not the money to go around buying shares" in airlines. The revised investment laws coupled with a more flexible Bilateral air services agreement between the UAE and India, have given the capital-rich Emirati carriers fresh impetus to establish a firm foothold in the subcontinent through share-acquisitions with Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International (AUH)) having recently bought a 24% stake in Jet Airways (9W, Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International (BOM)).

Virgin Australia International (VA, Brisbane International (BNE)) shareholder Richard Branson has aired the possibility of selling his Virgin Group's remaining shareholding in Virgin Australia, saying the airline's branding is more important to him than ownership. The issue was raised following the recent 10% share acquisition by Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi International (SIN)) which has watered down the group's overall stake to 13%; a figure that has raised some questions as to the Group's future plans for the airline. Branson is quoted as saying "the 13 percent is pretty strategic in that it could be very valuable to a player one day, but it's not that important from the Virgin Group's point of view." Regarding a potential sell off to Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International (AUH)), who had their own designs on Virgin Australia as part of their global strategy of securing alliances with other carriers either through codeshares or by equity holdings, Branson stated that he "would cross that bridge once he came to it."

Qatar Airways (QR, Doha International (DOH)) in is talks with Indian budget carrier, IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi Indira Gandhi International (DEL)), over a possible a codesharing agreement, CEO Akbar Al Baker has said, but denied the Gulf carrier is interesting in buying a stake in any Indian carriers, amongst them, Spicejet (SG, Delhi Indira Gandhi International (DEL)). Mr Al Baker said the rumours of any buyout were unfounded claiming "he doesn't have so much money to buy stakes in them." Regional rival, Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International (AUH)), recently signed a deal with Jet Airways (9W, Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International (BOM)) which saw the Abu Dhabi-based carrier taking a 24% stake in the airline. A drastically liberalized bilateral air services agreement signed between India and the UAE will also put added pressure on the Qatari carrier, who are also rumoured to have sounded out the International Airline Group, IAG, regarding the purchase of a 12% stake currently held by Spanish bank, Bankia.