After a brutal year, India's largest airline looks to bounce back, but there could be surprises ahead

The last date for submitting initial bids for Air India has been extended to October 30, fourth since the request for qualification (RFQ) was issued in January

Coronavirus outbreak news updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that social distancing is important and useful to prevent the spread of the virus

India late on Wednesday said it would suspend the vast majority of visas to the country in a wide-reaching attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus as cases across the region continued to rise

Qatar has banned passengers from India, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand from entering the country

Currently, IndiGo has a two-way codeshare agreement with Turkish Airlines and a one-way codeshare partnership with Qatar Airways

Vistara waited for 20 aircraft in its fleet - a rule mandated by authorities to fly international - before it could launch its first international flight to Singapore in August this year

So far IVRCL got 'expression of interest' from two parties, while a third one may also be interested, says liquidator Sutanu Sinha. The NCLAT that has put a stay on the sale of assets of the company will be hearing the case on November 18

In a codeshare agreement, Qatar will possibly guarantee a minimum number of passenger traffic (or seats) every week to IndiGo which is doing direct flights from seven domestic airports - Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kozhikode, Kochi and Kannur - to Doha at the moment

While the government is planning to invite bids for Air India next month, its employee unions on Wednesday decided to oppose it, saying there is no clarity regarding salary arrears and pensions

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker added that he is interested in buying a stake in IndiGo but this is not the right time as issues among its promoters are yet to be resolved

Amid the reports of strategic deal announcement between the two airlines over the last 3 days, the share price of InterGlobe Aviation has risen 3.83% and 1.27% in the week

The agreement will enable Qatar Airways to place its code on IndiGo flights between Doha and Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, the companies said

Qatar has in the past shown interest in investing in IndiGo but the Indian budget carrier has resisted.

Packaging a deal is just one part of the tale; the sale process for Air India could fail again without a buyer having such a big appetite.

In Jet's absence, cash-strapped Air India is the only Indian carrier that operates widebody jets capable of non-stop flights to Europe and the United States.

Days after India-born industrialist brothers, Srichand and GP Hinduja, reclaimed the title of Britain's wealthiest with fortunes of 22 billion pounds to their name, Etihad and Jet Airways' lenders approached the Group to invest in the debt-ridden airline. The Group has engaged investment bankers led by SBI Capital Markets for due diligence.