Restrictions cause chaos for Qatar flights

SCHEDULES for Qatar Airways, which operates a daily flight to Perth from Doha, are expected to be thrown into disarray by the closing of air corridors by its Middle East neighbours.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt closed their air and sea borders with Qatar and gave its citizens 14 days to leave, over its alleged links to terrorism in the region.

The Saudi Press Agency said: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has taken this decision as a result of the serious and systematic violations committed by the authorities in Doha over the past years with the aim of creating strife among Saudi internal ranks, undermining its sovereignty and embracing various terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at destabilizing the region.”

The UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have all announced full support for the Saudi stance with similar actions.

Flights to Australia and Asia are expected to be severely disrupted as they fly over the UAE and will now require lengthy diversions over Iran which will make some unviable, while others will lose passenger capacity.

Also, many Qatar Airways flights to other middle east countries operate through Saudi air space and this will be denied.

The extent of the impact of the decision is not yet clear and comment is being sought from Qatar Airways.

Etihad, the Abu Dhabi-based carrier, said it would suspend flights to Qatar “until further notice.” Emirates, the Dubai-based carrier, announced it too would suspend Qatar flights starting Tuesday.

Source: Restrictions cause chaos for Qatar flights | Perth Now