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)).

Qatar Airways (QR, Doha International (DOH)) says it is planning to deploy "ten narrow-body aircraft" onto its planned Saudi Arabian domestic operation set to commence operations out of hubs in Riyadh King Khalid (RUH) and Jeddah King Abdul Aziz (JED) later this year. In addition, the airline will operate under a different name, Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar Al-Baker, has confirmed. The winner of the other licence, Gulf Air (GF, Bahrain Muharraq International (BAH)), has yet to make public its plans, understandable given the state of its ongoing restructuring program. To cope with the anticipated upsurge in passenger numbers, the Saudi General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) is spending billions on upgrading the kingdom's airports though local players think otherwise, among them the CEO of nasair (Saudi Arabia) (XY, Riyadh King Khalid (RUH)), Francois Bouteiller, who claims the entrance of Qatar Airways and Gulf Air will be “chaotic” due to "insufficient infrastructure" in the kingdom.

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.

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 in talks with Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac (TLS)) to buy "up to fifteen A330s", a deal that is potentially worth USD3.6 billion at list prices. Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar al Baker told Reuters that the order was brought on by the incessant delays that the B787-8 has suffered from its inception to its launch. He went on to add that his company would seek compensation from Boeing (BOE, Chicago O'Hare International (ORD)) to the tune of USD200million as a result of the Dreamliner's 4 months of downtime, but did not, however, exclude the possibility of investing in the 787-10X, a design concept which Baker has praised for "promising low seat-mile costs."