The Maldives, which is predominantly Muslim, has joined Egypt in entering the row with Qatar over its alleged support for Islamist terrorism.
Kuoni, which is the biggest operator to The Maldives and which uses Qatar Airways flights among several other carriers, said there was currently “no change” to departures on Qatar Airways, adding, “UK flights are operating as normal”.
“We are keeping a close eye on it,” a spokesperson added.
Egypt closed its airspace to Qatari flights on Tuesday, although this will not affect the routing of UK-bound services.
Early on Tuesday, Qatar Airways cancelled flights to Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates until further notice. This came after a suspension of flights to Doha from carriers including Etihad, Emirates, FlyDubai, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Sharjah’s Air Arabia. Qatar Airways’ flights to nine cities in Saudi Arabia are also affected.
Qatar’s news channel Al Jazeera has warned that the country is surrounded by airspace controlled by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and says that if the situation escalates, Qatar Airways could effectively be locked in.
Qatar’s only land border is with Saudi Arabia and there are reports that a food blockade has been put in place, prompting panic buying. However officials are claiming that airspace and shipping lanes remain open for imports.
A Qatar Airways UK spokesperson referred TTG to updates on the airline’s website.
