Bahrain denies opening airspace to Qatar Airlines

CAIRO - 9 August 2017: The Civil Aviation Affairs of Bahrain denies claims that have been circulating about Manama opening its airspace to Qatar Airways as of Tuesday, according to MENA news agency.

The Civil Aviation stressed in a statement that this was “not true”, noting that the measures that it had taken, which included the allocation of additional emergency routes in the Bahraini airspace, is a measure taken by Bahrain to ensure the safety of air traffic over international waters assigned by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and “does not mean at all that Bahrain has permitted Qatari airspace passing over its sovereign airspace."

On June 5, a number of Arab countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, cut all diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar over accusations of funding terrorist groups in the region.

The Arab quartet issued 13 demands to Doha, including closing Al Jazeera television, curbing relations with Iran and shutting down a Turkish military base.

The Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) announced Tuesday that Bahrain and United Arab Emirates agreed to open up flight corridors for Qatar’s state-owned flag carrier Qatar Airways.