Disastrous consequences of Arab boycott on Qatar Airways

CAIRO – 06 June 2017: Monday’s decision to suspend relations between Qatar and five Arab countries has negatively affected the state-owned air service Qatar Airways. There are predictions that the Airline will be facing an estimated 30 percent decrease in its revenues, according to Bloomberg report released Tuesday.

The list of boycotting countries includes Egypt, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), United Arab Emirates (UAE), Yemen and Bahrain.

The diplomatic spat was followed by the decision to shut down Qatari airspace. Earlier Tuesday, Cairo Airport operated its last flight to Qatar, and further stopped all remaining flights effective immediately.

The Qatar Airlines will have to find alternate routes. Flights that normally land in Saudi Arabia and Egyptian airspace will have to travel further east or reroute to North and South Africa. This will mean longer flight patterns, and extra fuel charges resulting in a huge daily loss for Qatar Airlines.

Qatar Airways will witness another loss, because most of its flights are directed to/from Gulf States. It operates in nine cities in Saudi Arabia alone. The movement of trade will be completely suspended between Qatar and its neighbors.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain revoked the licenses of Qatar Airlines, and ordered its offices to close within 48 hours, according to Saudi news agency SPA.

Bahrain's BNA news agency stated and suggested, "all passengers who purchased tickets to or from Qatar make arrangements with the airline's offices for a refund within the next 48 hours or via the website."

Qatari stock share prices closed down 7.58 percent on Monday following the boycott news. Hours later, Qatar Airways announced it had suspended all flights to Saudi, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt.

Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Libya’s eastern-based government and Maldives all severed diplomatic ties with Doha on Monday. Qatar is also facing accusations of backing terrorist groups.