Philippine Airlines (PR, Manila Ninoy Aquino International (MNL)) is set to officially take delivery of six A321-200s in the last quarter of this year. According to sources privy to the deal, two A321s, RP-C9901 and RP-C9902, are due in August. In October three A321s, RP-C9903, RP-C9905 and RP-C9906, are expected while in December, the last A321, RP-C9907, is due. It is believed that "some" of the airline's narrow bodies will be deployed to its nascent start-up, Cambodia Airlines (Y6, Phnom Penh Pochentong International (PNH)). The Filipino national carrier is also expected to begin operations with four leased ex-Iberia (IB, Madrid Barajas (MAD)) A340-300s shortly.

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.

Philippine Airlines (PR, Manila Ninoy Aquino International (MNL)) has finalized a deal with Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac (TLS)) for the lease of four ex-Iberia (IB, Madrid Barajas (MAD)) A340-300s namely, EC-KSE (c/n 170), EC-HGU (c/n 318), EC-HGX (c/n 332) and EC-LHM (c/n 387). Delivery had been planned for early April but has since been postponed. While no official word on where they will operate has yet been disclosed, the Filipino media speculates that the airline will deploy the aircraft on planned new routes to Europe which could include Moscow Sheremetyevo International (SVO), Istanbul Atatürk/Yesilköy International (IST) and other non EU nations as new routes to EU states remains unfeasible at the present time given the airline's presence on the EU No-Fly List. Other reports have suggested that the aircraft will be used to strengthen PAL's US operation by increasing frequencies to Honolulu International (HNL), Los Angeles International (LAX) and San Francisco International (SFO).

Aeronova (OVA, Valencia Manises (VLC)) has started operating its sole ATR 42-300 EC-IDG (c/n 003) on behalf of start-up, Melilla Airlines (Melilla (MLN)). The aircraft is currently used on the Spanish operator's 3x daily (Mon - Fri) flight between Malaga Pablo Ruiz Picasso (AGP) and Melilla (MLN) which launched on April 29. Melilla Airlines competes with Iberia (IB, Madrid Barajas (MAD)) franchisee Air Nostrum (YW, Valencia Manises (VLC)) on the route.

Vueling Airlines (VY, Barcelona El Prat International (BCN)) is to be taken over by the International Airlines Group (IAG) after shareholders in the Spanish low-cost carrier overwhelmingly voted in favour of selling their shares to the group in a deal worth EUR 123.5million. Following the Vueling board's recommendation to back IAG’s bid, 82.48% of shareholders have now accepted the deal, giving the group 90.15% control of Vueling. IAG already owned 45.85% of the airline through its subsidiary Iberia (IB, Madrid Barajas (MAD)). Under the deal, Vueling will operate as a standalone company within IAG, maintaining its current structure with its chief executive Alex Cruz reporting to IAG chief executive Willie Walsh. The completion of the acquisition is due on April 26, 2013.