Qatar Airways also owns a 20 percent stake in International Airlines Group - which holds British Airways under its umbrella - as well as shares in LATAM Airlines Group, Italy's Meridiana and Hong Kong based Cathay Pacific. The latest deal comes as Qatar seeks new partners and routes for the national airline due to an ongoing diplomatic dispute in the Gulf.
Since June 2017, Qatar has been politically and economically isolated regionally by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.