Gulf airline Qatar Airways is seeking a joint venture with Dutch national airline KLM, the Telegraaf reports on Tuesday.

‘By handling daily flights to and from the Gulf in a joint venture we can share income and costs,’ Qatar Airways CEO Akbar el Baker told the paper.

The airline starts daily passenger flights between Amsterdam Schiphol airport and Qatar capital city Doha on June 16. Air France-KLM is already operating on this route.

Earlier this month, the Dutch government intervened to stop the expansion of Gulf airlines at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport because of unfair competition with Air France-KLM. Landing rights for Gulf airlines were frozen. Western airlines claim the expansion is due to unfair financial support which the Middle Eastern airlines get from their governments.

Market growth

However, El Baker says there is enough market growth for two daily flights.’There is room for both of us because of destinations in, for instance, India and the US to which passengers can transfer,’ he told the paper.

Passengers are a side issue for Qatar Airways, which is bigger than KLM at Schiphol in freight transport.

The European Union is currently negotiating an air treaty with the Gulf states which includes clauses on state financing, the paper says. Schiphol airport is owned by the Dutch government and local authorities.