The Qatar Airways’ flights to a majority of its 150 destinations around the world remained normal on Tuesday, even as the national carrier organised three charter flights to carry its stranded passengers from Saudi Arabia to Doha via Muscat, reported Gulf Times.

The Hamad International Airport (HIA), which is home to Qatar Airways, too functioned normally, although some flights were disrupted due to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt closing their airspace to Qatar traffic.

However, one downside of the disruption is that airfares in some routes have gone up drastically, especially those to the sub continent, south Asia, Europe and North America.

Many US and Europe -bound passengers also had to reroute their journey via airports not affected by the recent airspace ban. Passengers were complaining online of delays in re-booking and obtaining refunds.

“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 arranged for three charter flights departing Jeddah today, to Muscat in order to assist all Qatar Airways passengers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” said a Qatar Airways spokesperson.

“All effected passengers in Doha on route to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been assisted with alternative onward travel arrangements,” the spokesperson added.

Many planes have had to fly through altered routes. Some sources said that the reroute would result in an average of 40 minutes of extra flying time from and to Doha.

“This in turn means more fuel burn and a reduced capacity both on the cabin and cargo hold, on account of the extra fuel that has to be carried to cover the additional distance,” the source added.

Alexandre de Juniac, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) asked for the blockade to be lifted as soon as possible.

“We would like borders to be reopened, the sooner the better,” he said.

Bahrain joins Saudi in revoking Qatar Airways operating license

Bahrain joined Saudi Arabia in revoking the licences of Qatar Airways and ordered its offices to be closed within 48 hours, reported Gulf Times.

The Saudi government's move followed coordinated action by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to cut ties with Qatar.