DOHA, 11 June 2007 — Qatar Airways will be privatized three years after the airline company shifts in the black by 2010, Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said.

“We will be privatized in the first half of the next decade and will float an IPO after making profits for three consecutive years. We expect to achieve this feat by 2010.

“Not only Qataris but international organizations will also be able to purchase an equity in the company,” Baker said.

He added, however, “the IPO will not exceed 49 percent of the company’s stock as 51 percent of the shares would be reserved for Qatar nationals so that the sovereignty of the country is not compromised.” “The existing agreements between Qatar and other countries will also not be compromised,” he added.

Speaking to Arab News, Baker said the air travel industry in the GCC is booming and this is the right time for the countries in the region to open their sky.

He said “the GCC nations must give up monopoly practice and open their sky and the airline to direct competition from each other. Political constraints had been forcing the Gulf to protect their carriers from direct competition. But it’s not good for the sector. The Gulf must allow each other’s airline to grow.”

That can be done only by adopting an open-sky policy, he said.

Qatar Airways is the largest all-Airbus operator in the Middle East and is a customer of the A380 super jumbo. Last week, it added an additional 20 A350 aircraft to an existing order of 60.

“The first deal was about $13 billion and now with the 20 A350-1000s, it will rise to just over $16 billion,” Baker said. The airline will finance the purchase of 80 A350XWB aircraft mostly through debt, Baker said.

He said the airline would get into all kinds of financing “since the requirement of funds is large” and no single bank or one group of banks would be able to meet the funding requirement for its fleet expansion.

“We need to tap funds from local, regional and international banks. There will also be an Islamic trance involved in the financing,” he said.

The airline has a fleet of 57 with total orders of 120 aircrafts, but Baker did not rule out further adding to the fleet. “We will wait and see how things evolve,” he said.

The 80 aircraft include 20 A350-800S, 40 a350-900s and 20 A350-1000s, the largest in the family. Deliveries will begin from 2013. The airline signed a preliminary agreement with Airbus for the 80 aircraft in Paris last week in the presence of Emir Sheikh Hammad ibn Khalifa Al-Thani and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The airline, which flies to 75 cities, plans to reach 110 destinations early next decade, the airline CEO said.

Speaking about the shortage of houses resulting in a steep hike in rent in Doha, the airline chief said that new housing units would be constructed soon for its workers. He admitted that shortage of accommodation has hit the airline as it did to other companies and organizations in Qatar. “It concerns us but shortage of housing is not limited to Qatar alone, accommodation shortage is being felt in Bahrain and in the UAE as well,” he said.

Baker said Qatar airways policy was to provide accommodation to its employees. “We now offer housing to several of our employees. We will be building many in units in Doha to accommodate our junior and senior level employees.” Explaining the airlines policy of Qatarization, Baker said they look forward to hire qualified and trained locals to fill various positions in the airline, including pilots, engineers and flight dispatchers.

“We do not get applications from Qataris for the cabin crew positions in the airline. These jobs are not in great demand among Qataris now. Also, qualified nationals now get jobs they want, thanks to Qatar’s economic boom. But Qataris who meet our stringent qualification requirements are welcome to join the airline,” Baker said.

Qatar Airways will not be operating additional flights to India this summer as it has increased capacity to that country only recently, Baker said. But the airline will be operating extra flights to meet the summer rush to Cairo, Alexandria, Khartoum and Amman. The extra flights will be in July, August and September, he added.