Airspace embargo on Qatar includes Emir Tamim’s private jet

CAIRO – 2 July 2017: Saudi Arabia rejected Qatar’s request to allow Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani’s private jet to fly through its airspace, a Saudi source revealed on Saturday.

Tamim called for the King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdel Aziz to open Saudi airspace for his private jet, but his request was met with denial, the source who asked to keep his identity anonymous added.

“Qatari media attempts to show Tamim’s regime as stable and strong, despite the Arab boycott; however it tries in secret to contact Saudi and Emirati regimes to lift the imposed penalties,” the source said.

Egypt, along with Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates shut their airspace for Qatari jets following the severance of diplomatic ties with Doha on June 5, along with Yemen, Libya’s eastern-based government and the Maldives, over accusations of Qatari support for terrorist groups across the region. They issued Qatar a 10 day time limit which ends on July 3 to accept their demands before escalating their sanctions against the Gulf emirate.