Summary Qatar Airways is close to finalizing its investment in a Southern African airline, with details expected soon. The CEO targets growth and strategic partnerships in Central and Southern Africa to expand the airline network. Speculation surrounds potential targets, including SAA and Airlink.
It’s been a hot minute since Qatar revealed plans to invest in a Southern African airline - a quarter of a year, to be precise. Since the investment was revealed in May , Qatar Airways has hinted that the Farnborough Airshow would be where we could find out more. But the airshow has come and gone, and there’s still no confirmation of which airline Qatar is targeting (although we can all have a good guess).
We caught up with the airline’s new-ish CEO during the airshow to find out more. In the final stages of signing an agreement In post since November, Badar Al Meer hasn’t been the most forthcoming with international media. Aside from a brief Q&A at the Gulfstream G700 delivery in Doha, the world’s press has been largely kept at a safe distance, so an invitation to a roundtable with the new chief was an offer we couldn’t refuse.
In addition to asking about the future of the Airbus A380, Al Meer was pressed on the details of the airline’s proposed new Africa investment. With an air of genuine disappointment, he said that he was unable to make the announcement at the show, but that the two sides were in the “final, final stages of signing all the documents.” “If th.