Qatar Airways said on Saturday that it was interested in bidding for the four metro airports and has formed a joint venture with an Indian company for this purpose.
The flagship carrier of Qatar would also start flying to Kochi in Kerala from March, its fourth destination in India, Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways, told reporters on the sidelines of an aviation and tourism summit in New Delhi.
He said three flights would be started to Kochi with two flights with an Airbus A320-200 and one with an Airbus A-300 600 aircraft, offering a total of 500 seats.
Qatar Airways, at present has 16 weekly flights to India. These include six flights to Mumbai, three to Hyderabad and seven to Thiruvananthapuram.
On the airline's interests in airport privatisation, Baker said: "We are open to joint venture airports (in India). We have already tied up with an Indian company. Right now, we are holding talks with the Indian authorities," but declined to elaborate.
Government plans to privatise the airports of Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai through the joint venture route and the process is in its advanced stages.
