Qatar Airways puts India plans on hold

Qatar Airways will wait for "another 12 months" to decide on setting up an airline in India as it seeks clarity on "ambiguous" foreign ownership norms, its chief Akbar Al Baker said Tuesday.

The comments come less than three months after Al Baker said that the Gulf carrier would soon be moving an application to launch a full-service airline in India for domestic operations.

Al Baker, who has been Qatar Airways' Group Chief Executive Officer for over two decades, said that the rule of allowing foreign entity to own up to 100 per cent stake in Indian carriers is not very clear.

"What we are given to understand is that a foreign airline cannot own 100 per cent but a foreigner can. I don't know what is the difference between a foreigner and an airline," he said.

Speaking at a select media round table here, he said that if Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) owns 51 per cent and Qatar Airways has 49 per cent in an airline that is not allowed. "It is very ambiguous. Really the rule is not clear," he noted.

The QIA owns Qatar Airways. India has permitted foreign investors, barring foreign airlines, from owning up to 100 per cent stake in local carriers. While a foreign airline can hold up to 49 per cent stake, foreign investment arms can own the remaining.

On how long Qatar Airways can wait on India venture, Al Baker said, "We will wait for another 12 months but beyond that we will not be able to..."

"There is always an opportunity to invest in airlines in India. India is a huge aviation market.

"We will lose interest in time because you know we have a fund we would like to invest. If we don't invest in time, then we would have to invest somewhere else," Al Baker said. It was in March 2017 that Al Baker first mentioned about its plans for a carrier in India. In February this year, he had said it plans to launch an airline in India with at least 100 planes.