Emirates Airline: No plans to buy stake in India's SpiceJet airline

Emirates Airline put to rest speculation that it is in talks with Indian carrier SpiceJet for a stake in the airline, termed the stories  inaccurate  and said it was busy with its own expansion plans, a local Dubai-based newspaper reported on Friday.  "In response to recent inaccurate stories in the media, Emirates can confirm it has no plans to acquire a stake in any airline in India or elsewhere,   an Emirates spokesperson said in response to questions from the English language newspaper Khaleej Times.  The spokesperson added that the carrier was   focused on its own growth   and was investing substantially in its own fleet and network expansion plans.  The paper said SpiceJet declined to comment on the report as it was premature at this stage, adding that stocks of the low-cost airline have suffered a steep fall of 42 percent over six months, and that its promoters are also reported to be in talks with Qatar Airways and Kuwait Airways.  The Hindu Businessline, quoting unnamed sources on Thursday, had reported that Emirates was in advanced stages of talks to pick up a stake in the Kalanidhi Maran-backed SpiceJet. Maran, from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, also runs the Sun Network, a media conglomerate. Last week, SpiceJet CEO Neil Mills put in his papers and rumours were fanned of a possible stake sale to a Middle East carrier.  This followed the clearance of a modified Etihad-Jet Airways deal by the Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board by which the Abu Dhabi-based airline would get 24 per cent of Jet shares, according to the paper.