Emirates open to investing in Indian carriers: Chairman

Dubai’s Emirates airline is open to investments in India, its chairman said after a meeting with the country’s civil aviation minister on Thursday.

“We are open to profitable investments, but we are not talking specifically about Kingfisher,” Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum told reporters, referring to the troubled Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines.

Kingfisher, which has debts of Rs6,300 crore (Dh4.5 billion), needs an immediate cash injection of roughly Dh1 billion to remain solvent, reports maintain.

India’s government has in principle approved allowing foreign carriers to buy 49 per cent of local airlines, but a formal announcement is awaited.

Last month, Kingfisher Airlines, owned by Indian liquor baron Vijay Mallya, said it was in talks with two foreign carriers for a potential rescue package.

Mallya claimed in late February that the foreign carriers, which he refused to identify, stood ready to invest as soon as the change was announced — possibly within days. It would allow overseas airlines to own up to 49 per cent of an Indian airline for the first time.

Mallya expressed confidence that a deal with a “foreign strategic investor” was likely.

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