Qatar Airways chief Akbar Al Baker has reaffirmed the carrier's plan to launch a carrier in India, but has been coy on the details.
Answering a question during a recent press conference, Al Baker spoke briefly about the fleet plans for the proposed carrier.
"I will not tell you what types of aeroplanes we will deploy in India, but as you may remember we said that we will launch an airline in India which will have a fleet of at least 100 aircraft," he says.
No further details, such as when the carrier will start operations, were discussed during the press conference.
Al Baker first raised the prospect of launching a carrier in India last March, which would be jointly owned byQatar Airways and Qatar's state investment arm.
The planned venture would not require a local partner, after India changed regulations to allow complete foreign ownership of local carriers. Foreign carriers, however, are still limited to a maximum 49% stake.
FlightGlobal schedules show that Qatar operates 102 weekly flights to India, while last year it signed an interline agreement with Vistara.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
