Gulf rift threatens air travel disruption across region and beyond

Air travel across the Gulf region and beyond faces major disruption following the move by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain to sever ties with Qatar, accusing the tiny oil rich state of supporting terrorism. Saudi Arabia Monday banned Qatari airlines from its airspace, while Abu Dhabi's state-owned Etihad Airways and Dubai's Emirates Airline said they would suspend all flights to and from Doha from Tuesday morning until further notice. Qatar is home to global airline Qatar Airways and many airports in the Gulf region are major hubs for international connecting flights. Qatar's main Hamad International Airport, for example, served around 9.8m passengers in January-March, according to its website. "There is a wider impact than Qatar Airways not being able to land in markets like Saudi and UAE since those markets are significant sources for transfer traffic," said Will Horton, a senior analyst at CAPA Centre for Aviation in Melbourne. "A Riyadh passenger may not be able to connect to Bangkok via Doha and a Dubai passenger could not get to London via Doha." The harshest restrictions came from Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), which banned all Qatari planes from landing at the kingdom's airports and stopped them from crossing Saudi airspace. It also banned Saudi commercial and private air operators from serving Qatar. Bahrain's civil aviation authority, meanwhile, announced flights to and from Qatar had been suspended, according to state news agency BNA. Among airlines, EgyptAir, flydubai and Bahrain's Gulf Air joined Etihad and Emirates in saying they would suspend all flights to and from Doha. Qatar Airways said on its official website it had suspended all flights to Saudi Arabia.<br/>