The Gulf blockade, which has isolated Qatar from neighboring countries, has been going on since June 2017. This has all kinds of political and economic implications, and has also significantly impacted Qatar Airways, the national airline of the country. It has meant that Qatar Airways has cut all flights to Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and…
Continue reading: Unbelievable: How Gulf Air Planes Are Flying To Doha
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Let's hope that this idiotic blockade stops, so that everyone can prosper more and argue less about silly shit that hardly anyone cares about.
Saudi's king is a moron, MBS is a murderer, and country manufactures terrorists day in and day out.
If any country should be blockade, its Saudi Arabia.
There have been a few stories about the thaw currently underway:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/40th-gcc-summit-beginning-reconciliation-191209085900137.html
I understand the Saudi team flew direct through Qatar airspace but the UAE team did similar to Bahrain.
The fact that the teams came to Qatar along with the Emir being invited to Saudi for the GCC Sumit this week is a sign of thawing tensions. There have been lots of rumours in Doha of the blockade ending soon.
Recently there was an internet outrage over Qatar Airways stopping in Maastricht then flying 24 miles to Liege, which is environmentally wasteful. That flight happened twice, as far as I recall. This route is even MORE wasteful, and is ongoing. Add to this all of the extra miles flown for the past 2.5 years due to the Qatar issue, and we could have taken X number of cars off the road! Where is the outrage? Where is the pressure to solve this issue for the good of our planet?
No, better us all sacrifice travel and meat, and pay significantly more for 'clean energy' than to deal with the real environmental issues.
@Chris, Saudi's king is ill with Alzheimer, so he can't remember anything his son does. The person who makes MBS do this is MBZ
@Walt Parman, They're wasting fuel, emitting more harmful gases, wasting money, destroying the vehicles' quality, and other bad stuff
I believe this is actually less complicated than you think, Ben. The country of Qatar and all its airspace lies directly under Bahrain FIR, and because of the blockade Bahrain initially closed all airways through its FIR into Qatar. Pretty quickly after the blockade started, however, they designated several specific airways through Bahrain FIR that can be used to reach Qatar. That’s what this is about - they have to fly up to Kuwait to get on one of these airways. At least that’s what it seems like to me.
@ Sad State of Ouir County, MBS was gonna invade Qatar and Trump approved(even tho they have an airbase there), but they didn't because the strong ties with Turkey(being they have a strong army and base in Qatar) and Rex Tillerson said he doesn't approve because they have an airbase there and other reasons
So you're telling me that in order to avoid flying into Qatari airspace directly, Gulf Air is flying from Bahrain to Kuwaiti FIR, then turning around to cross BAHRAINI FIR while flying even closer to Bahrain before crossing into Qatari FIR from no other then Bahraini FIR
I think the blockade has to do more with Qatar-Israel relationship than “terrorists”.
If it was a question of terrorism, then Saudi Arabia would be the first candidate for a blockade.
Convoluted routings and unnecessary time in the air? Obviously this is against everything the points and miles community stand for.
Esteban says "I think the blockade has to do more with Qatar-Israel relationship than “terrorists""
Nope. In fact, Israeli relations with most Arab countries (not Persian) are improving. This blockade has everything to do with Iran - Qatar has been a bit too cozy with the Mullahs (the Shiite ones, that is).
i don't think Lucky (or any of us on this website) are really in a position to throw stones on the subject of "wasteful" air travel !
"My hope is that this comes down to stupid bureaucracy rather than pride…"
Clearly, politics isn't your strong point! Haha
Put the blame on regulations (and stop blaming US politics for this, you thick morons) and vagaries of international relationships. It’s the same as flights to Israel having to go in special air corridors. When there’s world peace and a single race, religion, and system of government, then you shall have your 20-minute flight.
I cant understand how Qatar Airways able to cross Bahrain airspace which surrounding Qatar? any explanation? is it possible as long as you keep low altitude till you cross?