Blockade of Qatar Airways’ home base is trouble for world’s no. 1 airline

You’d think Qatar Airways, voted the world’s best airline in a passenger survey last month, would have no trouble keeping its seats filled. Instead, it’s had to cancel scores of flights after four neighboring countries barred it from their airspace; it’s also being kicked out of an American Airlines Group code share agreement that eased access to the crucial US market. On July 12, Qatar Air’s brash CEO, Akbar Al Baker, issued a rare public apology after his description of US flight attendants as “grandmothers” was condemned by other airline executives and labour unions. The carrier has now been pressed into service to fly 4,000 dairy cows into the country on cargo planes to assure fresh milk supplies during the blockade. It’s a humbling turn for an airline that until recently seemed unstoppable. Over the past decade, Qatar Air more than tripled its annual traffic, to 32m passengers, and bought hundreds of planes, with some $41b still on order, to fly travellers through its desert hub in Doha. It took stakes in three other airlines and is angling to buy 10% of American Airlines. Qatar Air has become a darling of high-end travellers, thanks to solicitous customer service and in-flight amenities such as suites that convert into private meeting rooms. Behind those successes is an extraordinarily deep-pocketed owner, the emirate of Qatar’s $335b sovereign wealth fund. But as recent setbacks have highlighted, the relationship carries risks. Story has more details.<br/>