Qatar Airways interested in acquiring stake in Aeroflot, if such option is approved by the Russian government.
“Aeroflot is a successful company and naturally, if such an opportunity arises, we will be happy to receive, buy a certain stake”, said the Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker. “All airlines, where we are shareholders, once were public. But now they have private owners, so maybe President Putin, who is a very shrewd businessman, will one day want to open Aeroflot for strategic foreign investors”, added he.
Aeroflot is the largest group of airlines in the Russian Federation, it unites the carrier of the same name, operating in the premium segment, as well as the subsidiaries Rossiya (medium segment), Pobeda (low-budget segment) and the Far East Aurora. The main shareholder is Rosimushtestvo (51.2%), while other investors include state corporation Rostech (3.5%), individual investors (5.6%) and Aeroflot management (0.1%). The remaining 45.8% are free floating.
Qatar Airways was founded in 1997. The fleet numbers 200 Boeing and Airbus aircraft. The geography of flights covers more than 150 destinations, including 41 in Europe.
