Bahrain, Egypt, UAE & Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Qatar. Qatar aircraft ban

[CCGE29]

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt are accusing Qatar of creating instability in the region and funding terror groups.

Qatari Aircraft will be banned from overflying these countries.

[fox niner]

So if Qatari can't overfly KSA and UAE, how are they supposed to maintain their network?

[CCGE29]

I don't know. Routes such as Athens and Larnaca will be difficult especially as they cannot fly over Iraq and Syria. Will find lots of seat blocking to allow longer flight times.

[360BakTrak]

They're not currently banned from overflying; only into said countries. At the moment.....

[southern duel]

Overflights banned from egytptian airspace at the moment

[6000PIC]

Definitely not good for QR. Expect short term chaos followed by recriminations , apologies then quid pro quo then back to a " new " normal. Meanwhile , expect the Yanks and U.K. to be playing both sides as usual. This has the POTUS's attention , well maybe. The Shia - Sunni proxy kerfuffle continues unabated. All it will take is an unfortunate loss of face incident and the Gulf gets crazy. Oil price likely to skyrocket. Next the Iranians will ban GF and EK. Time for the popcorn.

[ironbutt57]

FR24 seems to indicate ops normal....at the moment...maybe there's a grace period

[KelvinD]

I think a lot of what has been written here re overflying anywhere can be discoiunted.
As I write, Planefinder shows 10 of Qatar's aircraft overhead Saudi Arabia, 9 overhead UAE, 8 overhead Iraq etc.
1 of those over Saudi is headed for Luxor, Egypt. Others will be routing across Egypt en route to Spain. Those overflying Iraq are mainly bound for Europe, and appear to be routing via Syria.
So, to sum up; nothing is happening with Qatari flights.

[southern duel]

I think a lot of what has been written here re overflying anywhere can be discoiunted.
As I write, Planefinder shows 10 of Qatar's aircraft overhead Saudi Arabia, 9 overhead UAE, 8 overhead Iraq etc.
1 of those over Saudi is headed for Luxor, Egypt. Others will be routing across Egypt en route to Spain. Those overflying Iraq are mainly bound for Europe, and appear to be routing via Syria.
So, to sum up; nothing is happening with Qatari flights.

be sensible they are not going to close airspace immediatly ? They will have too many issues to resolve by turning aircraft away. It will be 24 hours and then we will see.

[CCGE29]

They have 48 hours to make the necessary changes to flights to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

[PoppaJo]

A certain carrier in AUH has ceased flights to Doha from tomorrow

Wouldn't be a good look for Emirates if they didn't follow.

[Airbubba]

FYI
QR don't overfly Iraq, so any flight in Iraq airspace is landing in Iraq. Same with Syria, Syrian airspace is Prohibited for our Ops.
With that sort of info, you must be a CNN reporter.

Yep, looks like some A320's inbound to Iraq (BGW, NJF and BSR), an outbound flow over the Kingdom enjoying a view of the red dunes at Ha'il and a conga line (or Congo line here on PPRuNe ;)) going up the western border of Iran. Don't see any QR's over Syria.

A couple of airspace closures could sure mess things up though...

[Thaihawk]

The unmamed Gulf carrier will impliment cuts to kick in at 02:45 LT on the 6th, according to the BBC.

[Hectopascal11224]

QR contingency Plan to reroute all flights bound to Europe and North America to fly South West over Yamani FIR through HAAB, HSSS, HLLT to the Euro Control points of entry according to QR DOH OPS

[ExXB]

Today's SV flights to DOH appear to be cancelled.

[ZFT]

Hasn't Yemen joined the 'party'?

[Cows getting bigger]

Hmmmm, makes one wonder how the Americans will play the Al Udeid card.

[Dave Clarke Fife]

QR contingency Plan to reroute all flights bound to Europe and North America to fly South West over Yamani FIR through HAAB, HSSS, HLLT to the Euro Control points of entry according to QR DOH OPS

Looks like the plan to go through Yemen might come unstuck........

Yemen cuts diplomatic ties with Qatar: state news agency | Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gulf-qatar-yemen-idUSKBN18W0RS?il=0)

[Thaihawk]

His Excellency Akbar Al Baker is not having a good day.....DOH!

[ironbutt57]

Hmmmm, makes one wonder how the Americans will play the Al Udeid card.

there were noises about closing the base even before this occurred

[OldLurker]

It's not just flights: Saudi Arabia are basically starting a blockade. They're closing the land border with Qatar and banning shipping too. Qatar gets a lot of its food supply from SA so it's going to be in difficulty almost at once. This seems very likely to drive Qatar (further) into the arms of Iran – it's not obvious how that will help stabilise the Gulf region.

Qatar row: Five countries cut links with Doha (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-40155829) (BBC News)

[Hectopascal11224]

Just got a word from DOH TWR, Ban only applicable to TFC taking off or landing KSA airports, over flying remain with no changes.

[Avenger]

Nope! airspace ban 24 hrs later

[Council Van]

expect the U.K. to be playing both sides as usual..
Is it not Quatar that the UK have a 50 year deal with to supply liquified gas to the terminal at Milford Haven?

They definitely supply a lot to the UK, currently about 15% of UK consumption I believe.


Is it time to investigate reopening the coal mines to produce coal gas?:} At least then the Greens would have something other than Aviation to moan about.:ok:

[justforfun]

Libya also now.

[SMT Member]

The elephant in the room is surely the fact Qatar doesn't have its own FIR, rather it's under Bahrain. Saudi to the South, UAE to the East, Iran to the North. What if Bahrain FIR refuses to offer IFR services to DOH bound traffic, could the Qatari AF take over with their radars and controllers?

[Dave Clarke Fife]

Yemen airspace has been Prohibited to Qatar Airways for over 2 years. Hectopascals has made 2 posts and both completely wrong.

Are you not able to use Yemeni airspace on B400 (IMKAD-VEDET) or IMKAD-RIGAM TO UB403 toBOMIX? A real pain getting into East Africa if not.

[OldLurker]

Do we know whether aircraft registered in other countries (neither Qatar nor the Saudi-led group) are included in the blockade? Several airlines from outside the Middle East serve Doha. Will they be allowed to overfly en route to Doha?

[WrldWide]

Pretty sure the blockade will be only targeting A7 reg aircraft.

[Tay Cough]

Just as well. The parent company of a certain London based major airline is 20% Qatari owned.

[wabulabantu]

Do we know whether aircraft registered in other countries (neither Qatar nor the Saudi-led group) are included in the blockade? Several airlines from outside the Middle East serve Doha. Will they be allowed to overfly en route to Doha?

"Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said any carrier from a third country wishing to fly over the kingdom to Qatar would need to apply within a week for special permission."

Mideast airlines halt Qatar flights as Gulf crisis escalates - Jun. 5, 2017 (http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/05/news/qatar-gulf-airlines/index.html)

[Jetscream 32]

If this takes hold, globally the repercussions will be significant, if Saudi closes the road border into Qatar, then everything unravels quite quickly, food, fuel, and the rest of the world will jitter..I think H.E. Akbar will be using a large amount of mobile phone airtime today..

On the positive side if I was the ruling family / govt in Doha I'd also be on the phone and doing whatever was needed to restore normal!

Think I might pack an extra pair of boxers for these next few trips, this could be fluid and chaotic in the coming days and weeks.

[horizon flyer]

I don't think would affect the price of oil just change suppliers World has a surplus and the US only imports from Canada.

[Clipper7]

A commentator on Al-Jazeera just stated that the UAE and Bahrain would not deny overflight rights to any airplane originating or destined for Qatar as this would be a violation of the Chicago Convention.

[ironbutt57]

NOTAM A0205/17 begs to differ

[Airmann]

So here's a question. Which international body has the right to declare an airspace which is over international waters a part of country X or Ys FIR? Because FIR boundries for many countries that have a coastline stretch well into international waters. Take Oceanic FIRs for example. If Qatar were to declare the airspace above the country no longer in Bahrain FIR and closed to all international traffic who could stop them? And if they then declared the airspace north of Qatar up to the Iran border belonged to them who could stop them? Why does Bahrain have a right to manage the airspace above Qatar and not Qatar itself.

Hypothetically speaking, what right does the Bahrain airforce have to intercept an aircraft flying in the Bahraini FIR but far away from the island of Bahrain. Lets say someone were to fly into Mumbai Oceanic close to the Omani FIR boundary, could the Indian Air Force intercept them? I mean sure this would be stupid as they would be endangering the lives of hundreds of pax on civilians airliners crisscrossing through Mumbai Oceanic. But legally speaking does the Indian Air Force have any jurisdiction to intercept an aircraft that far away from its own land borders?

[Una Due Tfc]

Military traffic is not governed by ICAO, so that whole post is pointless.

ICAO delegates the airspace to the relevant civil authority to manage. Military is not covered by this and can come and go as it pleases so long as it doesn't violate the territorial airspace of another nation (within 12 nm of the coastline), but again, that would be outside of ICAO's remit.

[troff]

Roster changes from tomorrow.
All Saudi flights cancelled from tomorrow. Bahrain said airspace will close within 24hrs.
EK boys, better saddle up, flying might be about to increase.😉
My DOH flight coming up already cancelled

[Chrome]

NOTAM A0205/17 begs to differ

A0208/17 - FOR FLIGHTS AFFECTED BY NOTAM A0205/17 THE FOLLOWING AWYS ARE AVBL: 1-UT430 OUTBOUND VIA RAGAS 2-UR659 INBOUND VIA MIDSI. 06 JUN 00:00 2017 UNTIL PERM. CREATED: 05 JUN 12:00 2017

Those are going to be 2 busy waypoints.

[Airbubba]

An update from QR's travel alert page:

Suspension of Flights to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Kingdom of Bahrain

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Qatar Airways has suspended all flights to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia until further notice.

UAE
Qatar Airways has suspended all flights to the UAE from 00:00 UTC June 6th (03:00 Doha time, June 6th) until further notice.
Flights QR1020, QR1021, QR1054, QR1055, QR1034, QR1035, QR 1036, QR1037, QR1018, QR1019, QR1014 and QR1015 to and from the UAE on June 5th will operate as planned and remain unaffected.

Kingdom of Bahrain
Qatar Airways has suspended all flights to the Kingdom of Bahrain from 00:00 UTC June 6th (03:00 Doha time, June 6th) until further notice.
Flights QR1106, QR1107, QR1108 and QR1109 to and from the Kingdom of Bahrain on June 5th will operate as planned and remain unaffected.

Egypt
Qatar Airways has suspended all flights to Egypt from 04:00 UTC June 6th (07:00 Doha time, June 6th) until further notice.
Flights QR1302 and QR1318 from Egypt on June 5th will operate as planned and remain unaffected.

All customers booked on affected flights will be provided with alternative options, including the option of a full refund on any unused tickets and free rebooking to the nearest alternative Qatar Airways network destination.

Please check this page regularly for further flight updates.

Travel Alerts | Qatar Airways (http://www.qatarairways.com/us/en/travel-alerts.page)

[KelvinD]

FYI
QR don't overfly Iraq, so any flight in Iraq airspace is landing in Iraq. Same with Syria, Syrian airspace is Prohibited for our Ops.
With that sort of info, you must be a CNN reporter.
Really? Explain QR8261 then. Currently (18:47 UK time) just passing NE of Baghdad en route to Liege. That is Liege in Belgium, not Liege Iraq!
Meanwhile, keep an eye on QR246, rapidly approaching the Turkish/Syrian border, just behind QR40. So, not only does that cover Syrian overflights, the projected tracks of both these flights will take them from Syria over Iraq.
So, your info is perhaps defective? Perhaps when you say "Prohibited for our Ops" you really meant to say "for someone's ops".
So, a tip from an old man; wind your neck in and make sure you know something about the subject before you come up with the amateur insults!

[Beer_n_Tabs]

KelvinD

Without wishing to urinate on your fireworks,

You might want to put QR8261 into a very well known flight tracking website, and maybe while you are it it put in VDA7900

[Captain Charisma]

KelvinD

Really.
Explained like this... QR8261 went northbound through the Tehran FIR not the Baghdad FIR.
Likewise QR40 is following the standard route southwards through Tehran FIR with QR246 following behind.

And yes operations through the Baghdad FIR are prohibited by the GCAA and Qatari CAA - with the exception of flights landing in Iraq.

So a tip from a knowledgeable man, check your facts first!

[Airbubba]

Uh, total nonsense from what I can see. := Gotta raise the BS flag on this one.

Something tells me that you've never flown an aircraft in the Middle East.

QR 8621 and QR 40 are following the route that goes over Turkey and Iran. There are no QR planes flying over Syria.

So, a tip from an old man; wind your neck in and make sure you know something about the subject before you come up with the amateur insults!

Lad, you can BS the fans here on PPRuNe but you can't BS the players. ;)

[KelvinD]

Yemen airspace has been Prohibited to Qatar Airways for over 2 years. Hectopascals has made 2 posts and both completely wrong.
But irrelevant anyway as we can't get through UAE or Saudi airspace to get there.
And there goes QR1427, enroute to Addis more or less half way between Riyadh and Mecca. Plus 4 more to the north. Stop it! It may be true tomorrow but it certainly doesn't seem that way today.
And as for the poster who claims Qatar's food is imported via Saudi Arabia; heve you ever actually been there? Doha is q good sized, busy port. Full of ships. While Mesaaieed port, to the south of Doha, has a dozen or so ships alongside. Same goes for the post re gas imports to the UK from Qatar. If the UAE wanted to bar these ships from their waters, it wouldn't matter to Qatar as they are currently pals with Iran so they would sail on their side of the Gulf.

[Captain Charisma]

KelvinD

The NOTAM which prohibits the overflights is active from 0000UTC tonight. Hence the overflights you see on FR24 at the moment. Check back after that time and then let us know.

I note no reply to your earlier assertions!

[vmandr]

Strange NOTAMs from Egypt,SA,UAE and Bharein. Not a word about emergency a/c exempt (medevac, in-flt etc).

[Airbubba]

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker has left the IATA meeting in Cancun to put out some fires back in the office according to this ATW article:

Qatar Airways CEO departs IATA AGM as Gulf row escalates

Jun 5, 2017 Alan Dron

Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways, Saudia, Gulf Air, flydubai and Air Arabia were among the airlines that ceased flights to Qatar, effective June 5, after Middle East states surrounding Qatar severed diplomatic links with the country and closed neighboring airspace. Doha-based Qatar Airways suspended flights to Saudi Arabia.

Early Monday, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt announced they were breaking diplomatic relations with Qatar and instructed their nationals to leave the emirate within 14 days.

The announcement coincided with Monday’s opening of the IATA AGM in Cancun, where the world’s airline CEOs and senior executives are gathered. Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al Baker was among those attending the event and he was seen at the AGM’s opening reception Sunday evening chatting with fellow guests and seemingly not aware of the imminent crisis. On Monday morning, he left Cancun on a private business jet, several other airline executives attending the AGM told ATW. “This new scenario also means that Qatar Airways will have to do a lot of detour flights because it will be not allowed to fly over those countries like Saudi Arabia,” one executive said.

Asked about the situation during an AGM press conference, IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac responded, “We are not in favor of bans and we would like to see connectivity restored as soon as possible.”

The diplomatic row has been simmering for some years over Qatar’s alleged funding for and support of several Islamic groups, notably Islamic State and the widely outlawed Moslem Brotherhood; the latter favors the overthrow of several hereditary rulers.

The final straw came when a news report appeared on the official Qatari news agency website two weeks ago, apparently from Qatar’s emir, criticizing Saudi Arabia and taking a more supportive line toward Iran, Saudi Arabia’s main rival in the region. Qatar said the website had been hacked.
Qatar Airways said in a brief statement on its website that it had “suspended all flights to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” until the early hours of June 6. A spokeswoman said she had no further information on how operations might be affected.

Qatar Airways, a oneworld global alliance member, operates to multiple destinations in Saudi Arabia, as well as to other Gulf capitals.

The closure of Saudi, Bahraini and UAE airspace poses potentially serious problems for Qatar Airways. Qatar is a small peninsula jutting out from the eastern seaboard of the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia lies to the west; the UAE lies to the south and east. That limits the inbound and outbound tracks of Qatar Airways flights to the north and northeast, out over the Gulf and, potentially, over Iran.

ATW understands from sources in the region that the situation is made more complicated by the fact that Bahrain manages the upper airspace over Qatar. Qatar still has ATC control over its own lower airspace. How this will affect operations of the country’s national carrier is unclear.

Like many of the Gulf states, Qatar relies on a large expatriate workforce. There are, for example, an estimated 180,000 Egyptian nationals in the country who will now have to depart.


Qatar Airways CEO departs IATA AGM as Gulf row escalates | Government Affairs content from ATWOnline (http://atwonline.com/government-affairs/qatar-airways-ceo-departs-iata-agm-gulf-row-escalates)

[6000PIC]

I expect all this kerfuffle to be sorted soon as the GCC , and the rest of Sunni Islam including most importantly Egypt cannot afford to let Qatar drift out of their collective orbit and sphere of influence and into Iran`s. There is too much geopolitical $$$ at stake , and therefore the Emir Sheikh Tamim will no doubt eat a bit of humble pie and ice cream , ( that is , only behind a face saving curtain , as it is Ramadan ) , they`ll all bump noses and all will be happy again soon. Saudi just flexing it`s muscles and seeing who is aboard , kind of a trial run in advance of the final eventual showdown with Persia in the coming months. At least I sure hope this is the case , because the alternative will have global implications economically , security wise and we can`t forget about the football ! ( well , actually yes we can.) The Emir will not want to be remembered as the guy who lost his country. Better to eat pie than none at all.

[msbbarratt]

It's more complicated than that. Sheik Tamim is a comparatively young ruler in a society where age matters. There have been a string of quiet articles In the Western press ever since he came to the throne about how difficult it is for him to wield control over all aspects of the government and the wealthier families in the society (which is where the money for ISIL is actually coming from).

This development is potentially just the thing that the Sheik needs to finally exert power over these people. Or it could all go hideously wrong for all Qataris.

Likewise the leaks that have stimulated this reaction are a convenient public justification for UAE, Saudi Arabia, etc. I suspect they've been itching to do this for a long time, and now they can.

[ExXB]

1st freedom traffic rights (overflight) are part of Air Services Agreements just like 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5ths. Many countries are party to a multilateral agreement on 1st and 2nd freedoms, but not all are. I don't know if any of the parties here are, but I doubt it.

[Dan_Brown]

Will be interesting to see what will become of the hired help/aircrew working for Qatar airways and the Amiri flight. These people aren't known for keeping people on if they are unable to work, for whatever reason.

Will they be rescued by ship?

[gearlever]

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....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.Report: Qatar may have paid $1 billion for release of royal family members - Business Insider Deutschland (http://www.businessinsider.de/qatar-ransom-al-qaeda-iran-falconry-2017-6?r=US&IR=T)

[portmanteau]

well, QTR seems to be managing so far, their inbounds streaming in from the east by routing over southern Iran until a 90 degree turn south due north of DOH. Outbounds getting away too. Must be with full co-op from Bahrain ATCC who really don't have much choice, safety has to take priority over politics.

[Rwy in Sight]

portmanteau, are there any delays on QR flights or there is no time penalty due to the route?

[Avenger]

Qatar row: Saudi revokes Qatar Airways' licence - BBC News (http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40170120) with the suspension of their licences and closing of the offices it looks like more than a playground spat. "restoring" privileges could take a while. Ankara ATC are under pressure to handle the increase volume of traffic through Turkey, this means more delays and uncertainty as departure slots will be an inevitable consequence.
" Direct Alram" may be a thing of the past!

[Suzeman]

Just having a look at FR24 as it's raining and blowing a gale in Blighty, so no gardening to be done today.

QTR773 DOH-GRU, ops by B77W normally non stop, has just made a 2 hour tech stop in ATH before departing to the west.

Flight Aware is good to see where aircraft in the fleet actually are

https://uk.flightaware.com/live/fleet/QTR

[RoyHudd]

The Qataris will surrender quickly this time. They can't survive isolation in the region. Not from UAE, Egypt, and Saudi. But this may be a precursor for some serious instability in the region. Tribes there don't get along that easily. (Or most other places to be fair).Watch this space.

Instability will ultimately lead to a lot of expat job losses in the big airlines. No sympathy there. Hired hands is all the foreigners ever were.

As for the World Cup, well it never belonged there. And the bribes have already been paid, so it could end up where it rightfully belongs. (South America or Europe)

[CCGE29]

Somebody said that QR never fly over Iraq to non-Iraqi destinations, QR400 (DOH-AMM) has just passed over Najaf, Iraq and appears to be following the Iraqi/Saudi border.

[portmanteau]

R I S, here's a snapshot, QR 42 paris/doha sta 1635 eta 1623 touchdown was 1623, give him 5 mins to stand and ata would be 1628.

QR 138 barcelona/doha sta 1635 eta 1628 touchdown 1628, 5 mins to stand so ata would be 1633.
Doha 2 hours ahead of uk.

QR 5 Doha/london std 1630 was airborne shortly after so was probably on time.

I think that services ( except those(cancelled) to/from the 6 states breaking off diplomatic relations) will be able to operate on schedule to and from Europe and beyond and to/from the east. Services to/from west and south of Qatar will naturally be affected by the longer time taken to avoid Saudi.

All above dependent on Bahrain continuing to handle all flights as they normally do between Doha and the Iranian ATC boundary down the middle of the Gulf. Could change. Got to hand it to QTR Flight ops, number crunching and re-routing what-ifs must be going on 24/7. Ditto Bahrain Atcc.

[Airbubba]

Somebody said that QR never fly over Iraq to non-Iraqi destinations, QR400 (DOH-AMM) has just passed over Najaf, Iraq and appears to be following the Iraqi/Saudi border.

You are right, that is definitely something new. Earlier QR400 flights all went over the Kingdom:

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/qr400

[Rwy in Sight]

portmanteau,

Thanks for the answer. It would be interesting the next few days.

[parabellum]

During the Gulf war the route out of Doha was usually south over UAE to AUH thence to southern Iran and Northwards, if West bound and from AUH to Muscat and onwards if East bound, aircraft would follow the reverse of these routes when routing to Doha. Now I would expect straight across the Gulf to the Iranian coast then northwards for Westbound, or to the South and East for East and South destinations, the reverse routing when inbound to Doha, no real problem, domestic traffic will suffer but not the major international routes.

[B772]

I wonder if Qatar are losing pax to their competitors hand over fist.

[fox niner]

Doha-Khatoum took about 6 hours. Routing: eastbound toward Iran, along the coast. Then oman, then puntland/somalia. The only other airline that I know of that has to take these measures in "creative" flightplanning is..... EL AL.

[ExXB]

I wonder if Qatar are losing pax to their competitors hand over fist.

Well, they have lost ALL of their pax (and cargo) originating or destined to the named countries. True O&D pax should improve as EY/EK/SV/MS (etc.) now out of the Qatar market. On-line connections via DOH to other destinations will be affected if new flight times impact on minimum connecting times.

Anyone have an idea what proportion of QR pax are connections? I'd guess it would be the (vast) majority, but don't know.

[ExXB]

QR press release:

“Qatar Airways 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. In response to these restrictions Qatar Airways has arranged for three charter flights departing Jeddah today at 16:00, 22:00, and 23:00 local time, to Muscat in order to assist all Qatar Airways passengers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We encourage all Qatari passengers stranded to make their way to King Abdulaziz International Airport to avail of these three flights today, Tuesday 6 th June. Full details of these charter flights are available on Qatar Airways Travel Alert page.

All effected passengers in Doha on route to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been assisted with alternative onward travel arrangements. At Qatar Airways, our passengers remain our utmost priority and we will continue to ensure they have a seamless journey to their final destinations.”

[The Old Fat One]

Etihad Press Release

Abu Dhabi state-owned Etihad Airways said all travellers holding Qatari passports are currently prohibited from travelling to or transiting through the United Arab Emirates as part of government instructions.

Expatriates residing in Qatar and in possession of a Qatari residence visa will also not be eligible for visa on arrival in the UAE, Etihad spokesman said in an email.

Al Jeezra is by far and away the best source for updates. Most Western media outlets are:

[x] having a wtf moment
[x] concentrating on domestic events
[x] think its all fake news

Incidentally the UAE ruling family has just pronounced that supporting Qatar, in anyway, in the UAE is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 15 years in prison. So if you are travelling thru any of these places, best keep your gob shut.

Strict and firm action will be taken against anyone who shows sympathy or any form of bias towards Qatar, or against anyone who objects to the position of the United Arab Emirates, whether it be through the means of social media, or any type of written, visual or verbal form," Gulf News quoted UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi as saying.

Offenders could be punished with a jail term of up to 15 years and a fine of at least 500,000 dirhams ($136,000), Gulf News reported.

[air pig]

Will or how could this affect air ambulance flights operating over, into or out of Qatar. These are usually very short notice flights and prolonged requirement for clearances is sometimes not practicable.

[WHBM]

What is the situation with the US military base at Al Udeid in Qatar ? Are US flights in/out of there affected ? Does Donald Trump understand yet that there is a substantial US base in the country ?

Saudi announced that there was a concession for the Hadj travellers to continue to go to/from Jeddah. How is this being handled ? Are Qatar flights permitted for this ?

For all those who are having to leave, how are they even able to comply with the regulation to go home with all flights cancelled.

[tim1941]

The Iranians must be loving all the extra traffic. They always used to charge for overflights by the Km!

[edi_local]

Incidentally the UAE ruling family has just pronounced that supporting Qatar, in anyway, in the UAE is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 15 years in prison. So if you are travelling thru any of these places, best keep your gob shut.

And yet, according to Al Jazeera anyway, the port in Abu Dhabi has eased restrictions on ships coming to/from Qatari ports...as long as they aren't Qatari registered, operated or owned, so while heavy restrictions remain, there is surely a good amount of foreign ships now able to access Abu Dhabi on their way to/from Qatar which have presumably been blocked for the past 48 hours.

And co-incidentally, while QR are obviously facing big bills rerouting people onto other carriers, presumably any of the other Gulf airlines with passengers going to/from Doha will also be facing big bills getting people to/from there. Any ex-pat workers from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, SE Asia booked to travel in the next few days/weeks/months using EK or EY for example will now have to be re-routed onto other carriers, presumably QR in most cases? With all the construction work and domestic workers in the country that's a lot of people who could be disrupted.

[Sober Lark]

in the UAE is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 15 years in prison. So if you are travelling thru any of these places, best keep your gob

Little wonder why the UAE GCM never really worked.

[PashaF]

Well, it is unholy unprofessional to act as prophet of gloom and doom but someone need to do it.

So, ahem...

On Tuesday night Saudis have reportedly given Qatar a 24-hour ultimatum to fulfill a number of conditions they set in response to efforts to mediate between the two Arab states.

According to senior Al Jazeera journalist Faisal Edroos, the demands are:

Immediate severance of diplomatic relations with Iran,
Expulsion of all members of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas from Qatar,
Freezing all bank accounts of Hamas members and refraining from any deal with them,
Expulsion of all Muslim Brotherhood members from Qatar,
Expulsion of anti-[P]GCC elements,
Ending support for ‘terrorist organizations’,
Stopping interference in Egyptian affairs,
Ceasing the broadcast of the Al Jazeera news channel,
Apologizing to all [Persian] Gulf governments for ‘abuses’ by Al Jazeera,
Pledging that it (Qatar) will not carry out any actions that contradict the policies of the [P]GCC and adhering to its charter.

And A LOT of rumors among Arabic twitter users that... Military invasion is imminent.


So, it is not unwise to think where to divert and land if all airspace around (Including Iranian) will suddenly became unavailable i must say.

[Airbubba]

And, just to ramp things up a little more:

Wed Jun 7, 2017 | 4:28pm EDT

At least 12 killed in militant attack in Iran, Guards blame Saudi Arabia

By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin | LONDON

Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the Iranian parliament and the Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran on Wednesday, killing at least 12 people in a twin assault which Iran's Revolutionary Guards blamed on regional rival Saudi Arabia.

Islamic State claimed responsibility and released a video purporting to show gunmen inside the parliament building. It also threatened more attacks against Iran's majority Shi'ite population, seen by the hardline Sunni militants as "heretics".

At least 12 killed in militant attack in Iran, Guards blame Saudi Arabia | Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-security-idUSKBN18Y0HV)

[Thaihawk]

One gets the feeling the solids are going to be hitting the fan big time.

[KelvinD]

Lad, you can BS the fans here on PPRuNe but you can't BS the players
First, sorry for delay in replying, I had to undergo some minor surgery which occupied my mind for a while.
I have been gagging to reply to your juvenile posting, particularly in response to your comment: "Something tells me that you've never flown an aircraft in the Middle East."
First flight into the Middle East, 1966 or 51 years ago. Last flight 2015. During that half century period I had 5 years working for Saudi ATC, flying fairly often between airports in the area that you perhaps have not even heard of. The balance of that period was spent working largely with government organisations, Defence, Presidents' Offices, with Kings, Princes and sundry minor Sheikhs etc. Countries involved were all those in what is often known as the Middle East, except Lebanon and Turkey; from Yemen to Iraq and from Oman to Israel and all pointd in between, plus Egypt & Sudan.
So, want to repeat your stupid assertion that I have never flown an aircraft in the M.E.?
To the various others who criticised my posts re flights over Iraq; I got my data from a source that may have been extrapolating rather than producing an accurate fix from , contemporaneous data. So, I could blame the source. I have in fact flown over Baghdad with Qatar; daylight flight in glorious weather. However, that was about 4 years ago.

[Airbubba]

First, sorry for delay in replying, I had to undergo some minor surgery which occupied my mind for a while.

Hope your recovery goes well, that is more important than anything else we will discuss here. :ok:

So, want to repeat your stupid assertion that I have never flown an aircraft in the M.E.?

OK, I'll bite. So you say you've flown on aircraft in the Middle East. Pilots are indeed a vanishing breed here on the Professional Pilots Rumour Network.

FYI
QR don't overfly Iraq, so any flight in Iraq airspace is landing in Iraq. Same with Syria, Syrian airspace is Prohibited for our Ops.
With that sort of info, you must be a CNN reporter.

Really? Explain QR8261 then. Currently (18:47 UK time) just passing NE of Baghdad en route to Liege. That is Liege in Belgium, not Liege Iraq!
Meanwhile, keep an eye on QR246, rapidly approaching the Turkish/Syrian border, just behind QR40. So, not only does that cover Syrian overflights, the projected tracks of both these flights will take them from Syria over Iraq.
So, your info is perhaps defective? Perhaps when you say "Prohibited for our Ops" you really meant to say "for someone's ops".

As you now admit, it was not IBE8720's information that was defective:

To the various others who criticised my posts re flights over Iraq; I got my data from a source that may have been extrapolating rather than producing an accurate fix from , contemporaneous data. So, I could blame the source.

And, as you admonished us for being skeptical of your faulty assertion of Iraq and Syria overflights by QR:

So, a tip from an old man; wind your neck in and make sure you know something about the subject before you come up with the amateur insults!

Sorry I called BS but I could tell that you didn't know what you were talking about in this case, IBE8720 did.

[atakacs]

Although not anymore on the radar of MSN I understand that some of the aviation related restrictions have been lifted. Anyone with specifics?

[Airbubba]

Although not anymore on the radar of MSN I understand that some of the aviation related restrictions have been lifted. Anyone with specifics?

Here's the news blurb from a few days ago:

Bahrain, UAE open up airspace for Qatar Airways

By Associated Press August 8

MONTREAL — The world aviation agency says Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to open up some of their airspace to Qatar’s state-owned airline after it was hit with flight restrictions earlier this summer in a diplomatic dispute.

A spokesman for the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization said Tuesday that the flight corridors include existing as well as new “temporary or contingency” routes for Qatar Airways.

Spokesman Anthony Philbin says that since June 5, the aviation organization has been working with various countries in the Middle East to work out access to airspace for Qatar-registered aircraft.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/bahrain-uae-open-up-airspace-for-qatar-airways/2017/08/08/a874d97c-7c9f-11e7-b2b1-aeba62854dfa_story.html?utm_term=.ffea1ef3197a

Anybody got the actual Notams on the newly opened airspace? I looked but could only find the June stuff like:

A0222/17 NOTAMN
Q) OBBB/QXXXX/IV/NBO/E /000/999/
A) OBBB B) 1706151150 C) PERM
E) REFERENCE AIP SUP 06/2017 STANDARD ROUTES DOCUMENT
ALL AIRCRAFT ENTERING OBBB FIR AT LONOS FOR DESTINATION IN QATAR-
REQUIRED ROUTE IS MODIFIED TO LONOS UL438 KOBOK DCT RASDI UN318 VELAM

ALL AIRCRAFT ENTERING OBBB FIR AT LONOS FOR THE SOUTHERN EMIRATES
FIR - REQUIRED ROUTE IS MODIFIED TO LONOS UP975 GETAL DCT RASDI
UN318 OVONA

ALL AIRCRAFT ENTERING OBBB FIR AT KUVER FOR DESTINATION IN QATAR-
REQUIRED ROUTE IS MODIFIED TO KUVER UT438 KOBOK DCT RASDI UN318 VELAM

ALL AIRCRAFT ENTERING OBBBFIR AT KUVER FOR THE SOUTHERN EMIRATES FIR
- REQUIRED ROUTE IS MODIFIED TO KUVER UT975 GETAL DCT RASDI UN318
OVONA

The EK folks risk fines and prison if they comment on the QR situation so I don't think we will hear much from them:

UAE: Social media users face jail for Qatar sympathy | UAE News | Al Jazeera (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/06/uae-social-media-users-face-jail-qatar-sympathy-170607053416087.html)

[Carbon Bootprint]

"The EK folks risk fines and prison if they comment on the QR situation so I don't think we will hear much from them:

UAE: Social media users face jail for Qatar sympathy | UAE News | Al Jazeera"]



Perhaps one of the reasons the initial demands included shutting Al Zazeera down...

[Airbubba]

Looks like this is the new temporary airway through the Bahrain FIR to get to Doha:

G0553/17 NOTAMN
Q) OBBB/QARCS/I/NBO/E/000/999/2515N05218E040
A) OBBB B) 1708070000 C) 1711062359 EST
E) ESTABLISHMENT OF A TEMPO RNAV1 ATS ROUTE T665 FM OVONA DCT BOVIP
DCT DOH. AIRSPACE CLASS A AND CLASS C. LOWER/UPPER LIMITS 4500FT TO
FL220. INBOUND FOR QATAR REGISTERED AIRCRAFT ARRIVING QATAR
AERODROMES.

Also, this routing through the UAE FIR:

A1065/17 - TEMPO RNAV5 ATS RTE T665 ESTABLISHED FM DAPER(254522N 0545731E) DCT
ITMUS(252322N 0535429E) DCT OVONA(252443N 0524739E) AIRSPACE CLASS
A,FOR WB QATAR REGISTERED ACFT INBD TO THE STATE OF QATAR. FL220 - FL300, H24,
07 AUG 00:00 2017 UNTIL 06 NOV 23:59 2017 ESTIMATED. CREATED: 31 JUL 08:20 2017

Don't know how I missed it earlier. ;)

[Farrell]

The poor souls in Muscat FIR are being run ragged with the QTR traffic coming up and over and down. Maybe the current round of talks going on with ICAO will open up more routes and ease the pressure.

[Akali Dal]

Here's the news blurb from a few days ago:



https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/bahrain-uae-open-up-airspace-for-qatar-airways/2017/08/08/a874d97c-7c9f-11e7-b2b1-aeba62854dfa_story.html?utm_term=.ffea1ef3197a

Anybody got the actual Notams on the newly opened airspace? I looked but could only find the June stuff like:



The EK folks risk fines and prison if they comment on the QR situation so I don't think we will hear much from them:

UAE: Social media users face jail for Qatar sympathy | UAE News | Al Jazeera (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/06/uae-social-media-users-face-jail-qatar-sympathy-170607053416087.html)

Whoa! That's pretty draconian!

[Farrell]

Might have this put on t-shirts and hand them out to newbies :)

[h3dxb]

Gents, again

Be careful, its easy to get into jail, but difficult to get out

[atakacs]

Are vpn also formally outlawed?

[Airbubba]

Don't know about Qatar, here's one view of VPN use in the UAE:

Don't use a VPN in United Arab Emirates – unless you wanna risk jail and a $545,000 fine

Arab monarchy tries to slam door on privacy tools

By Iain Thomson in San Francisco 28 Jul 2016 at 20:54

A royal edict from the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may have effectively made it illegal for anyone in the country to use a VPN or secure proxy service.

Those caught could face jail time and fines of between 500,000 and 2,000,000 UAE dirham (US$136,130 and $544,521). The change was announced this week by the UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan in a proclamation that amended federal laws.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/07/28/vpn_users_in_uae_face_544k_fine/

[edi_local]

https://thebestvpn.com/are-vpns-legal-banned-countries/#vpnlegal-section-Q

I don't know how accurate this site is. It is extensive and is correct about the countries which do ban them, but it seems to be perfectly legal to use a VPN in Qatar, which makes sense as I know plenty who do and have had no problems whatsoever.

[Odins Raven]

https://thebestvpn.com/are-vpns-legal-banned-countries/#vpnlegal-section-Q

I don't know how accurate this site is. It is extensive and is correct about the countries which do ban them, but it seems to be perfectly legal to use a VPN in Qatar, which makes sense as I know plenty who do and have had no problems whatsoever.

There's not so much a defined line between what's legal and not legal in dictatorships. It's more what the ruling regime decide when they want. Not trying to scare you, just saying. Be cautious in everything you do as 'legal' is not the same as in your home country, a VPN site is the best place to get your info. Ask your local police station what you are and are not allowed to do.

[Phantom Driver]

Ask your local police station what you are and are not allowed to do.

Good luck with that one.:)

[OldLurker]

By the way, no sign that Bahrain, Egypt, UAE and Saudi Arabia are willing to put their money where their mouth is. Cutting off Qatar itself doesn't cost them much (ignoring those who sold food to Qatar, presumably now out of business or smuggling), but if they follow the principle they should surely boycott Qatar's assets abroad. Shouldn't Gulf Air, Egyptair, Emirates, Saudia, etc., stop flying to London Heathrow (20% owned by Qatar government)?

[aileron]

Saudi state TV justifies shooting down of Qatari airliners | Middle East Eye (http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-owned-tv-shares-animation-missile-shooting-down-qatari-passenger-jet-392542993)