Qatar Airways interested to buy stake in IndiGo: report

Qatar Airways is interested in acquiring a stake in India's IndiGo Airline and is likely to buy additional Airbus A380 planes as part of its expansion plan.

"We are always open to opportunities in India," its chief executive Akbar Al Baker said at a news conference in Dubai.

"We would be very interested in IndiGo if there's something available there. But the airline is performing very well so I don't think they would be interested," he added.

IndiGo did not comment on Baker's remarks.

Al Baker said the airline was now fully government owned after the country's sovereign fund bought a 50-per cent stake from Qatar's former prime minister and other shareholders.

"We became fully government owned in July last year," he said.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, who was also the former foreign minister, and some other shareholders had owned 50 per cent of the airline earlier.

Qatar Airways buyback followed a change in Qatar's leadership last June, with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani taking over from his father as the new emir.

Sheikh Hamad until last year was chief executive of the sovereign fund, Qatar Investment Authority, and was regarded as the driving force behind the emergence of QIA as one of the world's most sought-after investors.

Baker said after the ownership change the airline now plans to reveal its 2013 financial profits before the third quarter of the year.