Qatar Airways expected to get access to at least three new contingency flight routes
Almost two months after the illegal siege of the country began, Qatar’s morale has received a huge shot in the arm.
After a meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) yesterday, Qatar Airways is expected to have access to at least three contingency routes over international waters starting early August, reported Al Jazeera.
The closed-door meeting with the UN aviation agency’s governing council in Montreal discussed contingency routes that had been planned as part of a preliminary agreement reached earlier this month, but not yet opened to Qatar-registered planes.
Qatar had asked the ICAO to intervene after its national carrier was denied access to the airspace of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates as part of economic sanctions.
The closing of their airspace forced state-owned Qatar Airways to fly longer, more expensive routes, prompting Doha to push for international corridors over Gulf waters currently managed by the UAE.
“Within a week or so they should have new routes,” a source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The ICAO on Monday called on all member-states to comply with the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation and its addendums.
Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, Qatar's transport minister, told Al Jazeera that Doha's main goal at the session had been that all states should adhere to the Chicago agreement.
“The organisation insisted on using the word ‘adhere’ because there was a violation of international safety and security. This is what the international community and the states represented think,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ICAO’s remarks are seen as a huge win for Qatar.
“Noteworthy, the blockading countries have — in confession of their infringement on international laws and in order to avoid condemnation from the international community for nonobservance of law, have, only shortly before the Council meeting, relinquished their positions on the closure of international routes, and issued navigation notification (NOTAMs) according to the international law,” Gulf Times reported, citing a statement issued by Qatar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC).
The Ministry said it has full confidence in the Council and its wise decisions that are in the interests of aviation’s safety and security.
The Convention on International Civil Aviation (also known as Chicago Convention), was signed on December 7, 1944, by 52 States.
ICAO came into being on April 4, 1947. In October, 1947, ICAO became a specialised agency of the United Nations linked to Economic and Social Council.
While the ICAO cannot impose rules on states, regulators from its 191-member countries almost always adopt and enforce the standards it sets for international aviation.
