Who knew the Aga Khan owned an airline? Well the "businessman and spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims", as Reuters describes him, does indeed control Italy's Meridiana. Why do we care? It wants to axe 900 jobs as part of a planned tie-up with Qatar Airways, according to a person involved in the talks.
The holding company behind Sardinia-based Meridiana said earlier this month it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar and planned to complete the deal in the first half of this year.