UAE and Bahrain grant Qatar Airways new routes

Unpublished
Doha - Qatar Airways can now access a new route over international waters in the Gulf controlled by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, the world aviation agency announced. The Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has been working with "various Middle Eastern states to ensure equitable access to airspace for Qatar-registered aircraft" since sanctions were announced on June 5, ICAO spokesman Anthony Philbin said on Tuesday. "Some existing air route availability has been assured, and some new temporary or contingency routes have also been developed," including through Bahrain and UAE airspace, he told AFP news agency. Qatar had asked the ICAO to approve new routes after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt banned Qatar Airways from their airspace as part of the economic and diplomatic boycott. The air traffic restrictions have caused headaches for the 2.4 million residents of Qatar, 90 percent of whom are foreigners, as flights were forced to take longer routes, for example, to Southeast Asia. "The ICAO and the states involved are continuously monitoring related air route suitability and ATM (air traffic management) measures, which may still be subject to further modification if necessary, by mutual agreement," Philbin said. Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at the aviation consultancy Strategic Aero Research, said the new corridor, though temporary, bodes "well for a longer-term solution that may provide much-needed breathing space for Qatar Airways".(FA)

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