Arabian Knights: Al Jaber leaves Austrian Airlines standing at altar

AFP, May, 2008

VIENNA (AFP) — It was to have been a marriage made in heaven.

When Austrian Airlines and would-be investor, Saudi billionaire Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber, announced they were tying the knot in March, the airline's main shareholder, the state-owned holding company OeIAG, hailed the deal as a "win-win situation."

But barely two months after the two love-birds announced their engagement, the wedding appears to have been called off. And both sides are now only talking via their lawyers.

Officially, Al Jaber still has until May 21 to decide whether to make his wedding vow after all. But observers believe that is unlikely.

And the Austrian flag carrier is increasingly looking like a bride who has been jilted at the altar.

Finance Minister Wilhelm...