Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and UAE cut diplomatic ties with Qatar.

[Pug1]

Qatar Air

Maybe we should reconsider our support for this airline? See report on Daily Telegraph website tonight re Saudia Arabia and others cutting diplomatic ties.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Qatar Air

That's a pretty odd thing to propose. How is 'support' for an airline linked to the political actions against its owner nation by that paragon of freedom and virtue, Saudi Arabia?

 

[burmans]

Re: Qatar Air

Maybe we should reconsider our support for this airline? See report on Daily Telegraph website tonight re Saudia Arabia and others cutting diplomatic ties.

I guess the question here has to be how much you respect the Saudi's stance on this. They are hardly regarded as lily white themselves by many.

 

[elogic]

Re: Qatar Air

Just rang the Qatar office in Singapore , I fly out of SIN to MAN via DOH next week , was told it is only affecting Saudi airspace or landing in Saudi .
They also said things would likely be 48hrs
Fingers crossed

 

[Saab34]

Nothing from QR yet everything still normal via the booking engine.

I'm not close to all this political stuff but could this just be short lived (like a few days of negotiations) or will this be long term?

QRs entire operation is at risk pending this outcome. Know a lot of people who are wanting to cancel even though they are not from banned ports they just don't feel safe.

 

[Pushka]

Re: Qatar Air

Just rang the Qatar office in Singapore , I fly out of SIN to MAN via DOH next week , was told it is only affecting Saudi airspace or landing in Saudi .
They also said things would likely be 48hrs
Fingers crossed

Certainly seems to be isolated to that part of the world.

 

[Andyzx]

our travel alert, looks very serious and could definitely add some flight time

[TABLE="width: 600"][TR][TD][TABLE="width: 100%"][TR][TD][TABLE="width: 100%"][TR][TD][TABLE="width: 100%"][TR][TD][TABLE="width: 100%"][TR][TD][TABLE="width: 100%, align: left"][TR][TD]Travel Alert
[/TD][/TR][/TABLE][/TD][/TR][/TABLE][/TD][/TR][/TABLE][/TD][/TR][/TABLE][/TD][/TR][/TABLE][/TD][/TR][TR][TD][/TD][/TR][TR][TD][TABLE="width: 100%"][TR][TD][TABLE="width: 100%"][TR][TD][TABLE="width: 100%"][TR][TD][TABLE="width: 100%"][TR][TD][TABLE="width: 100%, align: left"][TR][TD]SIGNIFICANT TRAVEL IMPACT

Qatar: possible sea and land blockade will impact travel to/from Qatar


Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, UAE and Yemen have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, with some cutting transport ties from tomorrow. Emirates, Etihad and Flydubai will suspend flights to/from Qatar on Tuesday 6 June. This situation is still developing.


For further updates please visit ABC and AlJazeera

DFAT / Smart Traveller have not yet updated their website DFAT


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[kamchatsky]

And I was thinking of trying to do the following in January next year to try out QR A380 Suites and EY Apartments:

QR F CAN-DOH (A380 Suites)
QR/EY F DOH-AUH
EY F AUH-SYD (Apartments)

Great Circle Mapper

I guess this issue throws the whole idea out of the window!

Oh well I will stick with my SQ Suites HKG-SIN-SYD then.

 

[RooFlyer]

Andyzx, I can't quote that announcement properly, but can I ask where it is came from?

Qatar: possible sea and land blockade will impact travel to/from Qatar

Whilst the Saudis closing their order would amount to a land blockade (being the only land border), I haven't seen ANY mention of sea one. That would mean closing the Straits of Hormuz for Qatari bound chips of all nations, requiring the co-operation of Iran.

 

[defurax]

Andyzx, I can't quote that announcement properly, but can I ask where it is came from?



Whilst the Saudis closing their order would amount to a land blockade (being the only land border), I haven't seen ANY mention of sea one. That would mean closing the Straits of Hormuz for Qatari bound chips of all nations, requiring the co-operation of Iran.

My understanding is that the sea ban only applies to ships travelling directly between Qatari and Saudi ports. From Reuters: Saudi Arabia cuts ties to Qatar, cites terrorism | Reuters

 

[moa999]

It only impacts intra ME flights directly, and maybe a few extra minutes on most QR long-haul flights.

If Iran responds in solidarity with Qatar and bans other overflights that would potentially have a far greater impact on EK and EY.

In 2014, diplomatic staff were pulled out of Qatar by a similar list for about six months

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

Recent advice from SmartTraveller.gov.au

Latest update:
Major airlines based in the UAE have announced that flights between the UAE and Qatar will be suspended from 6 June 2017 until further notice, while Egypt has closed its airspace to Qatari aircraft. Qatar Airways flights to and from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain may also be affected. If you have an upcoming flight to, from or transiting Doha, contact your airline or travel provider for further information. We understand that Qatar Airways flights to and from Australia will continue to operate. The level of this advice has not changed. Exercise normal safety precautions in Qatar.

 

[Denali]

That escalated quickly. Is there a politics for dummies explanation on why this happened almost overnight? Any truth to Qatar having terrorist ties? Suddenly Saudi Arabia, after Trumps love feast, is the middle east police on this.

 

[GarrettM]

That escalated quickly. Is there a politics for dummies explanation on why this happened almost overnight? Any truth to Qatar having terrorist ties? Suddenly Saudi Arabia, after Trumps love feast, is the middle east police on this.

Never had much luck sorting out ME politics. I note this move has occurred on the 50th anniversary of the start of the Six Day War.

Mind you there's been "small" wars in the region for decades, so you could almost do anything on an anniversary in that part of the world.

 

[smithcorp]

Qatar Airways hasn't exactly been bombarding social media to keep people informed about this. My wife is travelling Qatar Airways Sydney - Doha - London tomorrow. That route should still be okay assuming Bahrain doesn't shut their airspace, but there's been no confirmation or advice from the carrier. Their international number was down last night, their Sydney folk had gone home, their website only had info on flights to directly affected countries and their Twitter silence was deafening. Any users here have any info?

 

[RooFlyer]

According to 'hard' news sites such as BBC, the Saudis and Egypt are the only ones to close their airspace to QR over-flights. If you have a look at the following map, this isn't a huge inconvenience, except for flights directly west bound to north Africa (and QR do fly to Tunisia and Morocco) and maybe southern Europe, such as Spain and Portugal. Syria and Iraq are already no-fly, so QR uses the corridor over Iran and then into Turkey, as do other Gulf carriers heading for Europe.

 

[pjm99au]

The following is from the QR app

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

Qatar Airways Support Today at 05:56
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.

For passengers with existing bookings, please call +974 4023 0072 or contact your nearest Qatar Airways office: https://www.qatarairways.com/en/contact-us.html

For further information and FAQs please visit: http://support.qatarairways.com/hc/en-us/sections/115002369667-FAQs

 

[Pug1]

Re: Qatar Air

I guess the question here has to be how much you respect the Saudi's stance on this. They are hardly regarded as lily white themselves by many.

agree Burmans, It's a bit like the pot calling the kettle black as far as the Saudi's are concerned. However I do see it as a little ray of hope.

 

[Pug1]

Re: Qatar Air

That's a pretty odd thing to propose. How is 'support' for an airline linked to the political actions against its owner nation by that paragon of freedom and virtue, Saudi Arabia?

I respect your comment Rooflyer but if my ticket money is helping to fund terrorism then I will fly with someone else, even if QR offers a return to Europe for $500. See my reply to Burmans as well. I recognise that SA is not the best role model.

 

[Pushka]

So that BBC bulletin confirms my flights of late yesterday are gone. Thankfully got it sorted last night but today might be busy.