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Gulf rift threatens air travel disruption across region and beyond

By Hadeel Al Sayegh and Saeed Azhar

REUTERS

 

       
A Qatar Airways Airbus A350 XWB aircraft is displayed at the Singapore Airshow at Changi Exhibition Center February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su/Files

 

DUBAI (Reuters) - Air travel across the Gulf region and beyond faces major disruption following the move by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain to sever ties with Qatar, accusing the tiny oil rich state of supporting terrorism.

 

Saudi Arabia on Monday banned Qatari airlines from its airspace, while Abu Dhabi's state-owned Etihad Airways and Dubai's Emirates Airline said they would suspend all flights to and from Doha from Tuesday morning until further notice.

 

Qatar is home to global airline Qatar Airways and many airports in the Gulf region are major hubs for international connecting flights. Qatar's main Hamad International Airport, for example, served around 9.8 million passengers in January-March, according to its website.

 

"There is a wider impact than Qatar Airways not being able to land in markets like Saudi and UAE since those markets are significant sources for transfer traffic," said Will Horton, a senior analyst at CAPA Centre for Aviation in Melbourne.

 

"A Riyadh passenger may not be able to connect to Bangkok via Doha and a Dubai passenger could not get to London via Doha."

 

The harshest restrictions came from Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), which banned all Qatari planes from landing at the kingdom's airports and stopped them from crossing Saudi airspace. It also banned Saudi commercial and private air operators from serving Qatar.

 

Bahrain's civil aviation authority, meanwhile, announced flights to and from Qatar had been suspended, according to state news agency BNA.

 

Among airlines, EgyptAir, flydubai and Bahrain's Gulf Air joined Etihad and Emirates in saying they would suspend all flights to and from Doha. Qatar Airways said on its official website it had suspended all flights to Saudi Arabia.

 

Saj Ahmad, the UK-based chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, warned of disruptions in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as further afield.

 

"Airspace will be impacted ‎by flights being re-routed, especially for Qatar Airways who will no longer be allowed to use the expansive airspace of Saudi Arabia on flights to Europe and North America," he said.

 

"Equally, the litany of narrowbody jets that Qatar Airways has to park which can't be used for intra-GCC flights will hit operations at Doha since ramp space will be at a premium - this could lead to flight delays and incur more costs."

 

Qatar Airways does not break down revenue figures for the Gulf region. Last year, its parent company published financial results for the first time. These showed a net profit of 1.6 billion riyals ($439 million) for the year to March 31, 2016, up from the 374 million riyals in the previous year.

 

The row between Gulf states is a fresh challenge for the region's airlines at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to restrict the travel of passengers to the United States from some Muslim-majority countries.

 

U.S. authorities have also banned the use of most electronic devices on board aircraft from some Middle Eastern origins.

 

The restrictions on Qatar are more severe than during a previous eight-month rift in 2014, when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE withdrew their ambassadors from Doha, again alleging Qatari support for militant groups. At that time, travel links were maintained.

($1 = 3.6407 Qatar riyals)

 

(Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi, Hadeel Al Sayegh, Tom Arnold in Dubai and Katie Paul in Riyadh; additional reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney; Writing by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Mark Potter)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-06

[mtls2005]

Five (5) dailies between DOH and BKK.

[sweatalot]

And what about the terrorism claims?

[coulson]

And what about the terrorism claims?

The article is about air travel restrictions. Many people in los who plan to travel West via ME are/ could be affected by this, me included.

Qatar Airways is one if the best operators out there right now. Etihad, Turkish, Emirates and Oman Air could get most of their business. Until Muscat, Istanbul and Abu Dhabi's new terminals are completed in 2018 they might not be able to cope with an additional 30 million transit passengers if the rift deepens.

[pegman]

No way in hell do I think Qatar is more of a terrorist inspiring state than Saudi. Bomb Riyadh.

[maewang99]

that's the name of the game now. 

disruption.

ISIS. 

and Steve Bannon

 

combined together to give it to us from both ends at the same time....  and globally now it seems.





 

      

Edited June 6, 2017 by maewang99

[sanukjim]

5 hours ago, sweatalot said:

And what about the terrorism claims?

Glad to see some Muslim countries with some balls.

[dabhand]

http://www.businessinsider.de/qatar-ransom-al-qaeda-iran-falconry-2017-6?r=US&IR=T

A ransom payment of up to $1 billion to Iranian and Al Qaeda-linked forces in Syria may have been the tipping point for Qatari-Gulf Arab relations, Financial Times reported Monday.

Qatar paid out the hefty ransom to secure the release of 26 members of a falconry party, some of whom were members of Qatar's royal family who had been hunting in southern Iraq, "commanders of militant groups and government officials in the region" told Financial Times.

 

[nasanews]

Some say it is because of JASTA law the Saudis and the Emirates agreed to pay to conceal JASTA law but not the Qataris.

[nasanews]

German foreign minister says his country's solidarity with Qatar and Trump is accused of stirring tension in the Gulf.
 

[nausea]

 

13 hours ago, sanukjim said:

Glad to see some Muslim countries with some balls.

What? 

 

3 hours ago, nasanews said:

German foreign minister says his country's solidarity with Qatar and Trump is accused of stirring tension in the Gulf.
 

The BBC reports that Trump is now unashamedly claiming credit for this as a blow v. terrorism.