Qatar Airways is closing in on a deal to buy a stake in South Africa’s largest regional airline Airlink in the latest stage of the Gulf carrier’s ambitious expansion across the continent. The two sides have held detailed talks about an investment from Qatar Airways, which is wholly owned by the Qatari government, although no final deal has yet been reached, according to people familiar with the matter. The investment would strengthen Qatar Airways’ network in southern Africa, giving the airline access to passengers from regional cities and ultimately funnelling more traffic through its Doha hub. Qatar Airways CE Badr Mohammed Al Meer told journalists this week that his airline was in the “final, final stages” of completing an investment in a southern African airline, without naming Airlink. He said southern Africa was the “missing part of the equation” in the carrier’s network across the region, following a partnership with Royal Air Maroc and planned investment in 49% of central Africa’s RwandAir. “This airline in the southern part of Africa was important to us to create a network and cover every city in the continent,” he said. One person familiar with the talks said that Airlink had been discussing “various opportunities” with the Qataris for some time, including a possible equity investment. When contacted by the Financial Times, Airlink’s chief executive Rodger Foster said only that: “Airlink is always exploring opportunities and is in conversations with several existing airline partners. However, we have not committed to any binding strategic equity investment.” The airline, which has 66 operational aircraft, carries more than 3mn passengers every year to destinations in more than 15 sub-Saharan African countries, including South Africa, Botswana and Tanzania, as well as the remote island of St Helena in the south Atlantic. The company was established 32 years ago by Foster and Barrie Webb, two years before South Africa’s first democratic election at the end of apartheid.<br/>