Qatar and Canada sign new air agreement
 

Canada appears to have found another friend in the Gulf: the National Post and Montreal Gazette are both reporting that:

"Canada and Qatar have quietly signed an aviation agreement that will allow Qatar Airways to fly three passenger flights and three cargo flights a week to and from the Gulf sheikdom.

Talks were successfully concluded on Oct. 25 after only three days of negotiation, according to Qatari news media....

Qatar does not require that Canadian citizens have a visa before travelling there. In a sign of warming relations, Canada is to open an embassy in Qatar early next year."

Canada and Qatar airline deal set to take off



In the war of words between Canada and the UAE is this a score for Canada or an own goal by the UAE side?

There aren't enought crew as it is, let alone getting rid of more :ugh:

I guess this little lesson on how to act like an adult has ended in tears for the UAE! Well played, I would love to hear how that is going over!

QR got 3 pax and 3 cargo flights a week! Not bad for a silent beginning!

Wait for it, I wager that the next announcement will be that Canada has permission to stage supplies into Afghanistan from Qatar. That would truly be the icing on the cake.

That would be logical. During the 1991 Gulf War, Canadian Air Force CF-18's were based in Qatar...

The magical word is natural gas...habibi. Hurray for the Canadians... ****uk UAE !!

I, like many on this forum, have no axe to grind on either side of this argument but just look on in dismay at the jingoistic rhetoric displayed on both sides.

It would appear that the politics of the problem have been poorly handled on both sides, with the UAE appearing to be the most petulant. However, any moral high ground that Canada as the ‘sophisticated Western democracy’ thought it held now seems to have been blown out of the water.

Were they not concerned about allowing access to a State supported business, or is that not a problem now?

yoyo,

nail on the head...excellent point

f

Any clues as to the pax route destinations?

The True North
Strong
and
Free!

:ok:

Canada's argument has nothing to do with state sponsored etc. It has to do with the simple fact that the legislation in place for bilateral air agreements states that there must equal benefit to both parties.

They see little benefit from allowing UAE access to many cities while the UAE is essentially a one city destination.

Montreal, Toronto and Happy Valley-Goose Bay ... happy?

Trader you think tens of thousands of Canadians are going for a holiday in Qatar????

Just tit for tat crap, the whole thing smacks of juvenile attitudes on both sides.

Caynine---Qatar got the same thing UAE currently has---6 flights a week to YYZ. So nothing odd there at all!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Qatar has SO much to offer destination wise:confused::confused: In fact, I'd wager that Abu Dhabi and Dubai is two cities, whereas Doha is one little sh1thole:p

Will that be enough to "bribe" QR into considering the Bombardier C-Series (built in Canada) aircraft for a big order? I know QR was considering the C-Series at one point. Good job for pushing the routes access in order to consider the aircraft purchase - trade is a two-way street.

Someone else on another board said it best: the Canadians are protectionist hosers who are afraid to compete with EK, QR, EY and others who offer a much better in-flight product to the Middle East. Sad but true. Capacity dumping is an easy, protectionist excuse (or crutch).

Qatar/ DOHA is a HUB not a destination provider
 

Look at the traffic thru Doha, 90% transit.

It is a major player in the ME hub, with qood service on board, nice terminal, (busy at midnight.!!!!).

Glf

Yup, except you don't understand what I wrote. Qatar got 6 flights a week, same as the UAE, which is a basic allotment under the legislation. In other words, there wasn't much to negotiate as it is almost a given. So I hardly think it was a 'bribe' for the C series.

it is, in fact, one really big sh1thole :E