Qatar Airways joins Etihad on the European acquisition trail

And just a few hundred kilometres along the Gulf, Abu Dhabi's Etihad is understood to be pressing on with a bid to buy Virgin Atlantic from its iconic owner Sir Richard Branson.

Al Baker went on record at the German Travel Market show in Berlin to confirm his airline's interest in broaden its ownership beyond the Gulf.

"It is very well possible that we will buy shares in another airline," he said. "Precondition is that it has a strong network and can help us to become a more global actor," he told reporters.

While Europe is seen as the likely target,Al Baker told a German newspaper that the airline is considering a 49 per cent stake in a European carrier equipped with a developed set of routes -  some experts believe that an Asian airline could also be a potential target.

Branson owns 49 percent of Virgin Atlantic.

Al Baker has also decided to purchase more A380 aircraft. According to the American Aviation Week magazine quoted Al Baker as saying  the Qatar Airways’ Airbus A380s, the first of which will be delivered in 2013, will be equipped with “around 517” seats and offer three classes of service. It will be the only model that has a first-class cabin, he said. First class will have eight seats. Al Baker confirmed that he plans to order more A380s but declined to say how many. The airline currently has five A380s on firm order.

The magazine also reported that Al Baker is critical of Airbus for its decision to launch the A320NEO instead of an all-new design. “It’s the same situation as with the old A350. If they had listened to airlines at the time, they would be flying the aircraft now, before the Boeing 787,” he said.