Riyadh — Many flights at Doha's Hamad International Airport were delayed or diverted on Monday following an announcement by eight nations to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar. On Twitter, social media users shared images of several flight diversions and delays. Major airlines on the Arabian Peninsula have announced they will stop flying to Qatar. Saudi Arabia on Monday banned Qatari airlines from its airspace and Gulf Air, Bahrain's national carrier, announced the suspension of its multiple daily service between Bahrain and Doha from Monday. Abu Dhabi's state-owned Etihad Airways and Dubai's Emirates Airline said they would suspend all flights to and from Doha from Tuesday morning until further notice. "All customers booked on Emirates' flights to and from Doha will be provided with alternative options, including full refunds on unused tickets and free rebooking to the nearest alternate Emirates destinations," [caption id="attachment_150013" align="alignright" width="300"] A tweet by a traveler.[/caption] Emirates said. "There is a wider impact than Qatar Airways not being able to land in markets like Saudi and UAE since those markets are significant sources for transfer traffic," said Will Horton, a senior analyst at CAPA Centre for Aviation in Melbourne. Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) banned all Qatari planes from landing at the Kingdom's airports and stopped them from crossing Saudi airspace. It also banned Saudi commercial and private air operators from serving Qatar. Bahrain's civil aviation authority, meanwhile, announced flights to and from Qatar had been suspended, according to state news agency BNA. Saj Ahmed, the UK-based chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, said, "Airspace will be impacted by flights being re-routed, especially for Qatar Airways who will no longer be allowed to use the expansive airspace of Saudi Arabia on flights to Europe and North America." "Equally, the litany of narrowbody jets that Qatar Airways has to park which can't be used for intra-GCC flights will hit operations at Doha since ramp space will be at a premium — this could lead to flight delays and incur more costs." Qatar's flag carrier risks being the biggest loser. On one level, its flights to places like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Cairo will stop. That is dozens of flights a day. But being banned from large chunks of airspace in the region would also cause a major problem, forcing it to alter flight paths, inevitably adding time to some flights. And as well as cranking up fuel bills, that could annoy passengers. "If a journey to Europe that used to take six hours now takes eight or nine because it has had to change routes, then that makes it far less appealing and passengers might look elsewhere," says Ghanem Nuseibeh, director at advisory firm Cornerstone Global. Qatar Airways advisory Qatar Airways said that its passengers holding confirmed tickets issued on or prior to June 5 for travel between June 5 and June 12 can get a full refund or get the dates changed. The change of date for travel must be within 30 days from the original date of travel, a Qatar Airways statement said.
