Doha ATC will be responsible for the entire Qatar whereas the Bahrain ATC for almost half of the Arabian gulf.
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Clarification for overflight rules:
Qatar is a nation surrounded by 3 different airspace blocks that govern overflight outside of Qatari airspace – Jeddah (OEJD), Bahrain (OBBB), and Emirates (OMAE). Qatar Airways’ aircraft are free to fly within their own airspace, however once outside of Qatari airspace must check in with one of the 3 blocks for further ATC communication. Here’s the latest status of each below:
JEDDAH (OEJD)
The Jeddah block is currently controlled by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and counts as Saudi airspace. Because the KSA is not a signatory of the Transit Agreement of 30-Jan-1945, it is free to ban Qatar Airways’ flights from entering or overflying their airspace. No Qatar Airways flights are allowed to enter this airspace.
BAHRAIN (OBBB)
The Bahrain block is currently controlled by the Kingdom of Bahrain, and counts as Bahraini airspace. As a signatory of the Transit Agreement (of 30-Jan-1945), they are legally obligated to allow QR’s flights overflight over said airspace so long as they possess a valid flight plan. Although having stated that Bahraini airspace is closed to overflight from Qatari flights, Flightradar24 has updated that Qatar Airways flights are being restricted to one corridor in the airspace, causing congestion and delays. Some Qatar Airways flights are allowed to enter this airspace, however the future is uncertain whether that will remain.
EMIRATES (OMAE)
The Emirates block is controlled by the United Arab Emirates, and is Emirati airspace. As a signatory of the Transit Agreement, they are legally obligated to allow QR’s flights overflight over their airspace with a valid flight plan. The UAE has banned Qatar Airways flights from landing in UAE airspace, but has made no remarks on whether thy will close their airspace to Qatari flights. All Qatar Airways flights are allowed to enter this airspace, however no aircraft is allowed to land in the UAE.
Overall, the airspace around Qatar has essentially been to the North and West, with only a few routes remaining outside of Qatar that are passing through airspace that they are allowed to fly through. This, however, doesn’t fully allow Qatari flights access to fly – the FIRs that control Qatari airspace and surrounding airspace are in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, both of which have prevented overflight to Qatar Airways flights.
Photo Credit: IVAO
This image shows a map of airspace within the Qatari area, with clear boundaries between each airspace block. Unfortunately, the Jeddah airspace is closed, and the Bahraini airspace has only 1 corridor open. This leads to a map looking more like this:
Photo Credit: IVAO, edited by me
While the UAE has allowed flights to overfly its airspace, if it follows suit with Bahrain, Egypt, and the KSA’s decisions, it may cause Qatar to be completely isolated by air from the remainder of the world.
Please note: although not listed in drawings or above, the Arab Republic of Egypt has closed its airspace to Qatari flights, and most airlines in the UAE, Bahrain, and the KSA have suspended flights to Doha.
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Unfortunately, Now UAE has closed their airspace to Qatar Airways too. So currently, There is only a corridor that can be used for Qatar Airways’ flights
Here’s a photo that shows how the traffic looked like earlier today
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He just wants to put his blog in here, that’s all.
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If you look at Doha’s arrivals all the flight from those countries are cancelled and for Dubai it shows all the scheduled Qatar flights as unknown.
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Here’s a photo to support Chatta’s statement. This photo was taken at Doha’s Hamad International Airport ;)
Source to BBC
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Things are so tense. QR is even using a 77w on its Khartoum flight due to the longer distance the flight goes.
Keep in mind this flight us usually by A320/321 aircraft.
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It might not be because of that, Qatar is one of those airlines that uses A350’s, B787’s, B777’s and A330’s on the Doha to Dubai route which is like 40minutes so it may be unrelated.
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They might be using the cargo hold to import food, we never know. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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The route is mostly flown by A320/321, but even before this came up, they were using A330-200/300 on the route. But yes, a 777 was flying on this route today.
Also, @dush19 makes a good point. Saudi provided Qatar with 40% of their food imports, maybe they are using aircraft with a bigger belly cargo capacity to transport more food and supplies.
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I have heavily updated the report. It now features statement’s from every airline involved, help for passengers and details of the airspace problems. Thank you to all of you in this thread who have provided information on this topic.
Photo Credit to IVAO, updated by me
Here’s the new, updated map showing airspace restrictions in black. Things are looking worse and worse…
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I find it interesting that Trump took credit that Qatari got blockaded, but US has a military base in Qatari. US better airlift everything out of Qatari before situation get any worse.
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I doubt that this situation will occur till the end of 2k17.
We had transit booking AUH-DOH-AMM with QR, Changed to RJ Direct, Qatar Airways Assigned on the date of my travel from AUH-DOH the A346, and A330 DOH-AMM, I was so excited to fly my first 4 engines Aircrafts, but downgraded to A320 #Boring_A320
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I would have suggested Kuwait Airways since u would have got a 50% chance on A340.
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Yeah, I hate when that happens 😂
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Hey! Now Israel and Qatar have something in common! (Considering that Qatar sponsors the terror organization Hamas)
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So what does this mean for Qatar airways
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Update:
The situation with Bahrain appears to have worsened, and Qatar Airways appears to be in much deeper trouble. Here’s a comparison between new and old NOTAMs:
Old NOTAM (06-June-2017)
A0208/17 NOTAMN
Q) OBBB/QXXXX/IV/NBO/E /000/999/
A) OBBB B) 1706060000 C) PERM
E) FOR FLIGHTS AFFECTED BY NOTAM A0205/17 THE FOLLOWING AWYS ARE
AVBL:
1-UT430 OUTBOUND VIA RAGAS
2-UR659 INBOUND VIA MIDSI
New NOTAM (07-June-2017)
A0212/17 NOTAMR A0211/17
Q) OBBB/QXXXX/IV/NBO/E /000/999/
A) OBBB B) 1706071748 C) PERM
E) ALL FLT REGISTERED IN THE STATE OF QATAR ARE NOT AUTHORISED TO
OVERFLY BAHRAIN AIRSPACE.
OPERATORS NOT REGISTERED IN KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN INTENDING TO USE
BAHRAIN AIRSPACE FROM OR TO THE STATE OF QATAR REQUIRE PRIOR
APPROVAL FROM BAHRAIN CAA ON THE FLW CONTACT:
TEL:00973 17329035 / 00973 17329096
EMAIL: SCHEDULE(AT)MTT.GOV.BH
What does this NOTAM mean for Qatar Airways?
Previously, Bahrain allowed Qatar Airways to fly 2 routes in and out of their airspace into Iranian airspace, with the old NOTAM above specifically allowing it in relation to NOTAM A0205/17, which banned Qatari aircraft from entering and leaving Bahraini airspace. Now, it appears A0205/17 has been replaced by A0212/17, which states that ALL non-Bahraini aircraft (including those operated by foreign carriers) flying to/from Qatar require permission from Bahrain to fly through their airspace. In addition, Qatari aircraft are still banned from flying through Bahrain’s airspace, and with the nullification of the previous NOTAM allowing QR flights through 2 airways, non-Bahraini aircraft (operated by QR or otherwise) are now completely sealed off unless specifically allowed by Bahrain, a process that can end up taking days. For now, however, it seems flights are being allowed to fly through that airspace as normal.
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Wow so Qatar Airways is pretty much done for. It’s such shame since they just had their brand new A350 delivered and now it’s not going anywhere.
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