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Blockade countries: Qatar air ban is national emergency

August 14, 2020 at 1:18 pm

Qatar Airways plane, 31 March 2017 [Julian Herzog/Wikipedia]

A Saudi-led group of countries has told the United Nations’ aviation agency that emergency conditions justify a three-year diplomatic impasse with Qatar that prevents Doha using the airspace of neighbouring countries , Bloomberg reports.

According to the report, the foreign affairs ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain wrote to the International Civil Aviation Organisation  (ICAO) last week to say that announcements made in 2017 allowed them to bar Qatar-registered aircrafts from their skies under a provision designed for states to use in times of war or national emergency.

On the other hand, Qatar Airways has been seeking at least $5 billion in compensation from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain after the four emposed a blockade on it. Doha was forced to forge new routes over Iran, making journeys longer and more costly.

READ: Having refused negotiation, the Blockading Four must bear the consequences of arbitration

“The decision by the blockading states to prevent Qatar Airways from operating in their countries and flying over their airspace is a clear breach of civil aviation conventions and several binding agreements they are signatories to,” Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar Al-Baker, said last month.

Last week, the UN’s highest court for disputes sided with Qatar in its legal fight against the blockading countries.

It confirmed the ICAO has jurisdiction to rule in the airspace row, dismissing appeals by the four Arab states.

In June 2017, the four countries severed ties with Qatar before banning its national carrier from flying over their airspace and closing the company’s offices.