Egypt: full commitment to international aviation agreements

CAIRO – 14 June 2017: Egypt affirmed its commitment to all international aviation agreements in light of its decision to ban Qatari airlines and aircrafts registered in Qatar from landing in Egyptian airports or crossing its airspace, according to a statement from the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority on Tuesday.

This decision excludes airlines and aircrafts that are not registered in either Egypt or Qatar and wish to cross Egypt’s airspace en route to and from the Gulf nation.

As for non-Qatari private aircrafts and charter flights that wish to cross Egyptian airspace, all are required to submit a request to the central administration for air transport in the Civil Aviation Authority 24 hours beforehand.

Egypt affirmed that it is fully committed to all extant international agreements including the Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation issued in 1944 and 2016 UN Security Council Decree No. 2309 on aviation security. However, Egypt maintains its right as guaranteed by international law to take any “precautionary measures to protect its national security.”

A number of Arab countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen cut all diplomatic ties with Qatar last week and banned Qatari airlines and aircrafts from crossing their airspaces, accusing Qatar of supporting and financing terrorism in the Middle East region.