India: Govt asks Qatar to start airline in India

The civil aviation ministry has asked the Qatar govt to start an airline in India and participate in the country’s growth story. The request to Qatar was made during bilateral negotiations between the two countries for increased number of flights recently, said a person familiar with the subject. “They were looking at a regional airline, full-fledged national airline or investment in an existing Indian airline,” this person said, referring to the aviation ministry. India’s domestic aviation market reached nearly 100m passengers in 2016 and is set to displace UK as the third-largest aviation market by 2026. Civil aviation secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey confirmed that the aviation ministry has written to the govt of Qatar to start an airline in India. <br/>