Mauritania revives its airline industry

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania, April 28 (UPI) -- The north African country of Mauritania will revive its airline industry in a joint venture with Qatar, officials announced Monday.

Mauritania lost its airline, Air Mauritania, to a liquidation sale in January, Med Basin Newsline reported.

Mauritania will own 10 percent of the joint venture. Qatar's al-Bateel Group will fund and control 60 percent, while Maurintanian investors will control 30 percent, officials said.

The venture will assemble a fleet of "three Boeing 737 and two small planes for interior and regional flights" Mauritania's Transportation Minister Ahmed Ould Lefghih said in a statement April 3.

Officials also said the airline would give hiring preference to the 400 former workers of Air Mauritania.