American Airlines ‘puzzled’ by Qatar investment approach
American Airlines boss Doug Parker has dismissed as ‘puzzling’ a statement from Qatar Airways that it wants to buy 10% of its shares.
The Middle Eastern airline has issued a statement saying it sees the US airline as a ‘strong investment opportunity’.
"Qatar Airways believes in American Airlines’ fundamentals and intends to build a passive position in the company with no involvement in management, operations or governance," the statement said.
It said it has long considered American Airlines to be a good oneworld alliance partner and ‘looks forward to continuing this relationship’.
But in a letter to staff, American Airlines’ chief executive said the airline was ‘unexcited’ about the approach.
"While anyone can purchase our shares in the open market, we aren’t particularly excited about Qatar’s outreach, and we find it puzzling given our extremely public stance on the illegal subsidies that Qatar, Emirates and Etihad have all received over the years from their governments," said Parker in the letter.
The timing of the approach has also been questioned because of the current crisis in the Gulf which has seen Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE stop flights to and from Qatar and close their airspace to Qatar Airways.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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