Qatar Airways has full confidence in Cathay Pacific, eyes bigger stake

Qatar Airways has full confidence in Cathay Pacific Airways and will increase its 10% stake in the carrier if it has any opportunity to do so, the Qatari airline's CE said Tuesday. Cathay has become the biggest corporate casualty of political unrest in Hong Kong after China demanded it suspend staff involved in, or who support, anti-govt demonstrations. "Cathay Pacific is there to stay, and to expand and to serve the people of both Hong Kong and China, as Hong Kong is an integral part of mainland China," CE Akbar al-Baker said. "We have no concern about the brand, we have no concern on the viability of the airline." Qatar bought its stake in 2017 and has previously expressed interest in increasing it, although it has said the tight share register makes that difficult. <br/>