Qatar Airways in Trouble as Middle East Allies Back Up

It’s been a big year for Qatar Airways.

The airline has debuted luxurious new business class suites, was recognized by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as the first airline in the world to offer “end-to-end baggage tracking,” became the official partner airline for the FIFA World Cup, unveiled a free stopover program for passengers and ieven managed to skirt the ban of carry-on electronics mandated by the United States.

And while rival carrier, Emirates reported a huge drop in profit due to that same electronics ban, Qatar Airways’ CEO Akbar Al Baker said Qatar had merely seen a "manageable" decline in passengers.

But things got sticky this week when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain all cut diplomatic ties to Qatar, prohibiting the airline (and any Qatari-registered aircraft) to fly through their airspace due to the nation’s alleged funding of terror groups.

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Interestingly to many industry experts, the notifications from all nations were announced in a simultaneous, coordinated effort. According to some, they were seemingly unexpected.

"Every country in the region has decided they’re going to make things as difficult as possible for Qatar," said Mark Zee of OpsGroup, which consults on matters of airspace, according to an article in Forbes. Zee also said it was “unlike anything he had seen before.”

Forbes likened the move to “weaponizing aviation”, and Zee agreed that it is a “demonstration of the power that airspace can be.”

Adding drama to the tense situation are reports from the IATA annual general meeting (AGM) that the announcements were handed down just as CEO Al Baker was in attendance at the illustrious airline industry event. According to a report in Airport Transit World, he was seen chatting with colleagues and “seemingly not aware of the imminent crisis.”  

READ MORE: Emirates, Etihad Suspend Flights to Qatar

He reportedly left the IATA event early Monday morning, well before the event kicked into full gear.

What the shutdown in ties means for Qatar is yet to be determined. Without access to neighboring airspace, the airline must make cumbersome detours, often over Iran and Turkey to fulfill its flight schedule, which could mean schedule delays and increased expenses for the carrier.

An article at Bloomberg predicted the airline will cancel about 50 flights a day or 10 percent of its volume. The airline has issued a statement that “operations are running as normal with no disruptions to flights with the exception of those to the four countries Qatar Airways has been restricted to fly to.”

For his part, Donald Trump has turned to Twitter to take credit for the breakdown in diplomatic ties:

During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017

So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017

...extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017

Al Jazeera, however, says the tweets only “complicates efforts to diffuse the situation.”

"This is not just a tweet," said Al Jazeera writer Patty Culhane. Instead, she said, “it could signal a US foreign policy shift towards a Gulf ally, which hosts the largest American base in the Middle East.”

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Meanwhile, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is urging all the affected parties to sit down and discuss their differences.

The position is one that is mirrored by IATA.

“We are not in favor of bans and we would like to see connectivity restored as soon as possible,” said IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac during a press conference at the IATA meeting.

Follow @MonicaPoling