From Qatar Airways to Turkish Airlines, there has been no shortage of interest in Australia from international carriers this year. But this could be one of the most interesting. An entity affiliated with Japan Airlines, the Tokyo-listed, ¥1.12 trillion ($11.4 billion) giant, is on the hunt for entire airports.

Street Talk can reveal JAL, as it is better known, is teaming up with Japanese trading house Sojitz Corporation to bid for North Queensland Airports, the holding company for the Cairns and Mackay airports. The two companies are already in a partnership known as JALUX, which has ownership and operations in a significant number of airports globally.