Qatar Airways says majority of network unaffected by airspace restrictions

Qatar Airways said Wednesday the vast majority of its operations had not been affected by airspace restrictions recently imposed on it by 4 Arab countries. CE Akbar al-Baker also repeated calls for the ICAO to intervene in the airspace rights dispute. "We are not a political body, we are an airline, and this blockade has stripped us of the rights which are guaranteed to us," al-Baker said Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar a week ago, accusing it of fomenting regional unrest, supporting terrorism and getting too close to Iran, all of which Doha denies. Qatar Airways and other Qatari-owned aircraft are blocked from using the airspace over the 4 Arab countries. Qatar Airways has said it will continue with plans to add 24 destinations between 2017 and 2018. <br/>