Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates cut ties with Qatar in 2017 (Matt Rourke/APA)Long-haul carrier Qatar Airways said it has launched international arbitration seeking at least five billion dollars (£3.9 billion) from four boycotting Arab countries for blocking its flights from their airspace and their markets. “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 chief executive Akbar al-Baker said in a statement. The four Arab nations cut ties with Qatar in 2017 in a political dispute fuelled in part over Doha’s support for Islamist groups that they view as terrorists. They also launched an economic boycott, stopping Qatar Airways flights from using their airspace, closing off the small country’s sole land border with Saudi Arabia and blocking its ships from using their ports. The crisis, as well as the coronavirus pandemic, has deeply hurt Qatar Airways, which competes with Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways and Dubai-based Emirates as major east-west carriers.

Source: Irish Independent July 22, 2020 12:56 UTC