Qatar’s government has become the sole owner of the country’s national carrier, Qatar Airways, according to a report by Reuters.

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, has bought the stakes owned by its former prime minister and other shareholders, according to the airline’s CEO Akbar al-Baker.

“We became fully government-owned in July last year,” Al-Baker said, declining to give a reason for the transactions.

The government bought about 50 per cent in the airline from former prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani and other investors.

The former prime minister was replaced in July 2013, after Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani took over the reins from his father and named his new cabinet.