Airlines
Qatar Airways Increases Stake in IAG
Gulf carrier now owns more than 15 percent of British Airways parent
A Qatar Airways Boeing 787-8 approaches London Heathrow Airport. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-SA) by Hawkeye UK)
A Qatar Airways Boeing 787-8 approaches London Heathrow Airport. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-SA) by Hawkeye UK)

Qatar Airways confirmed Wednesday that it has increased its shareholding in International Airlines Group (IAG) from just under 12 percent to 15.01 percent. Qatar announced the investment update at a global press conference in Atlanta, where the airline celebrated its planned launch of service from Doha on June 1. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines has been one of the fiercest critics of the three Gulf carriers’ expansion with the help of what it calls state subsidies. Qatar’s investment in IAG—the holding company of Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and Veuling—marks the second such increase in the European airline giant in less than a month.