Etihad Airways has increased its stake in Virgin Australia, surpassing the Virgin Group as the airline's third largest shareholder.
AAP reports the Abu Dhabi company paid $A11.8 million for 27.4 million Virgin Australia shares in several transactions in the past week.
That takes its stake in Virgin Australia from 12.3% to 13.4%, above the Virgin Group's stake of about 12.5%.
Air New Zealand is the airline's largest shareholder, recently taking its stake to 22.99%. Singapore Airlines holds 19.9% of Virgin Australia's shares.
