oneworld

Qatar Airways will wait for another 12 months to see if the rules relating to foreign direct investment in airlines become more favourable, only then will the airline launch a subsidiary in the country, group CE Al Baker said Tuesday. He termed the current FDI rules in the aviation sector as “ambiguous”. “What we are given to understand is that a foreign airline cannot own 100% but a foreigner can. I don’t know what is the difference between a foreigner and an airline,” he said. Al Baker’s comment comes 3 months after he had first said that the carrier would soon be moving an application to launch a full-service airline in India for domestic operations. He said if Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) owns 51% and Qatar Airways has 49% in an airline that is not allowed. <br/>

Finnair has appointed financial specialist Topi Manner as CE. He will take up his position Jan 1, 2019. The move follows the May announcement by CE Pekka Vauramo that he was moving on to become CE of Metso Corp. Vauramo has now left the airline. His position will be filled on an interim basis until Manner’s arrival by CFO Pekka Vähähyyppä. Manner has had a lengthy career in a series of management positions at Nordea, the largest financial group in the Nordic countries. His roles have included head of personal banking and since 2016 he has been a member of Nordea’s group executive management. Finnair chairman Jouko Karvinen said: “We believe Topi’s people-centric leadership is an excellent fit for a service company like Finnair, which is all about people, both personnel and customers." <br/>