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Qatar Airways - UAE, KSA, Bahrain and Egypt withdraw licenses and close airspace

Old Jun 5, 2017, 6:48 am
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Last edit by: plunet
Wiki last updated: 21 July 2017 18:00 UTC

Summary of key traveller experiences and feedback on this forum since Mid-June
  • Policy statement (link) for the travel industry issued 15th June 2017
  • Refund is always an option, but very varied experiences of how quickly the refund is processed, from a few days to "still waiting". Some experiences of passengers being pressurised into taking refunds when this is not necessary if you can wait.
  • If you want to reroute from a closed destination to another middle east destination still served by QR, you might be able to do this as early as 30 days from 1st sector, although we have had reports of rerouting at 6 weeks out.
  • Where QR have to reroute onto other carriers, long haul reroutes typically onto BA, CX and TK seem to be quoted most often. In the Gulf region ME, KU, WY are quoted most often. Although RJ is a OneWorld carrier and should be a parter for QR, they are not accepting QR rerouted tickets.
  • Status of reservations for travel to affected destinations typically changes to "Unconfirmed" 7 days ahead of travel.
  • If your booking was via a 3rd party or agent you probably can't get Qatar to change the ticket until 72 hours before the first sector. 3rd parties and agents seem to be offering refunds rather than rerouting, although there has been some success if you can show them the QR rebooking policy document.
  • There has been a very mixed bag of reports of how QR are handling rebooking. Some people have no luck getting itineraries changed before 72 hours before departure, but others do. So some good advice is to always be polite but if you don't get what you want, then thank the agent for their time and HUACA (hang up and call again) - preferably after you have had a drink and have calmed down, and maybe calling a different office.

Some specific data points from other travellers:
(but there is a lot more valuable information if you can trawl back through the thread)

#753 CAI-LHR-DOH been offered as alternative for ex-CAI 4 days prior to 1st sector.
#772 KUL-DOH-LXR reroute to CAI and IST refused
#792 AUH-DOH-DPS by QR rebooked to DXB-HKG-DPS by CX
#794 Australia-DOH-HBE rebooked as DOH-BEY on QR on 2nd attempt.
#808 CAI>DOH>BOS>DOH>CAI rebooked to KRT and date change
#818 SYD-DOH-CAI changed to SYD-DOH-KWI-CAI, layovers optimed and +Qatar stopover
#830 and #840 Economy ICN-DOH-DXB rebooked onto CX ICN-HKG-DXB
#849 ex-CAI ininaries changed to ex-AMM but needed to HUACA a few times.
#856 CAI-DOH-BKK changed to FCO-DOH-BKK all on QR
#868 DFW-DOH-HBE changed to DFW-DOH-LCA all on QR 2 weeks out.
#906 Unable to get LXR-DOH-HKG-BNE rerouted until 72 hours prior
#927 CAI-DOH-BKK rebooked onto CAI-BAH-AMM on Gulf DOH-BKK (on QR) and return back to AMM
#966 DXB-DOH (award ticket) was changed to DXB-KWI-DOH on Kuwait+QR 48hrs in advance
#966 DOH-CAI (2 award tickets) were changed to DOH-BEY on QR 48 hours advance
#966 CAI-DOH-MUC (paid business) were changed to BEY-DOH-MUC 72 hours advance
#981 HKT-DOH-DWC (J/F tix) change to HKT-DOH-KWI all on QR 10 days out.
#985 ex-LXR ticket rerouted by OTA as CAI-BEY-DOH outside the 72 hr window
#1004 BKK-DOH-CAI in F rebooked as BKK-DOH-BEY in QR F, BEY-CAI in C on ME
#1005 HEL-DOH-DXB rebooked HEL-DOH-MCT on QR and MCT-DXB on Oman once ticket status went to unconfirmed.
#1057 MAN-DOH-DXB rebooked as MAN-LHR-DXB on BA (had to HUACA 3 times)
#1141 Multiple ex-CAI itineraries CAI-DOK-BKK return in J, CAI-DOH-LHR return in J, CAI-DOH-BKK single in F changed to all be ex-KWI. Had to HUACA 3 times.
#1157 LXR-DOH-NRT booked in January, flight changed to CAI-DOH-NRT
#1172 Rebooked CAI-(F)-DOH(J)-BKK to CAI-(C/ME)-BEY-(F)-DOH-(C)-BKK at 77hrs from departure
#1173 Rebooked at QR office HBE-DOH-DPS to HBE-IST-DOH-DPS on TK/TK/QR and improved timing on DOS-DPS segment

Offical guidance from QR website as of mid July:

Passengers who have purchased their tickets from Qatar Airways have the following options to refund their tickets:

For tickets booked on qatarairways.com, they can:
  1. Go to Refund requests;
  2. They can approach their nearest Qatar Airways Office; or
  3. They can call the Qatar Airways contact Centre at +974 4022 0072
For tickets booked through a Qatar Airways Office or through the Contact Centre, passengers can
  1. Contact their nearest Qatar Airways Office; or
  2. Call Qatar Airways Contact Centre on +974 4022 0072
The refund will be made to the original form of payment and the refund will be processed within 14 - 28 days.
Passengers who have purchased their Qatar Airways tickets through a Travel Agency can request their refund from the issuing Travel Agent.
Within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kingdom of Bahrain and Egypt please use: https://refundsapp1.blueivysync.com/...er-refund.html

This is a different web form as the Qatar website is blocked from some of these countries.
For further information and FAQs please visit: http://support.qatarairways.com/hc/e...002369667-FAQs
What Happened

On the 6th of June flights from Qatar to Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (and vice versa) were suspended.

This includes all Qatar flights between Doha and Abu Dhabi, Abha, AlexandriaBorg el Arab, Bahrain, Buraydah, Cairo, Dammam, DubaiAl Maktoum, DubaiInternational, Gassim, Hofuf, Jeddah, Luxor, Madinah, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh, Sharjah, Tabuk, Ta'if and Yanbu.

Adding to this at 00:00 (UTC) on the 6th of June restrictions were put in place limiting flights to Doha to one particular corridor through the airspace of Bahrain. This has since been relaxed to two specific corridors through Bahrain airspace with a second corridor up the Saudi Arabia the new addition.

All other flights to other Qatar Airways destinations including the Maldives are still operating although some have delays due to the extended time required to avoid restricted airspace.

There are a couple of routes that are having to make fuel stops in Athens or Muscat but this seems to be dependent on the type of aircraft as well.

Details on the Airspace can be found here - https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/f...ain-and-egypt/

What about my Flights to other destinations?

Flights to Europe, Asia, Pacific and Norte America are operating as per schedule with minimal delays. There is no need to contact QR regarding these services.

Flights between Doha and Souto America are facing delays due to longer times and/or need for a technical stop-over. Flights to GRU and EZE are 2hr to 5hrs longer.

Flight between Doha and Africa/Middle East have longer flights times due to the airspace restrictions. Some routes like Doha to Khartoum have felt the full force of the restrictions with the flight now taking 2hr 30 mins longer than normal.

Qatar has begun to re-time flights to ensure the network continues running smoothly. Changes have been since Monday 12 June 2017, so it is advised to check your flight status and times on the Qatar website.


What about my flight to a suspended destination?

If you are due to fly in the next few days, search for alternative routings and note them down.

24 hours before your scheduled departure time, contact your LOCAL QR office, and ask for their assistance. Advise them that you have found an alternative routing which you would be willing to accept and see if they will book it for you.

If you are due to fly more than 5 days from today, try and relax. Do not panic and please do not call QR as you are blocking the lines for those flying in the next 24 hours. At this stage, Qatar is only offering options to those who are traveling in the next 24 hours.

Currently, people in the thread have suggested that Qatar is rebooking on flights through Muscat, Kuwait, Amman, Istanbul, Mumbai, Beirut, Athens and Tunis.

You can only get a refund if your booking is to one of the destinations listed at the top! (The number of people asking QR on Twitter for a refund of other flights is amazing)

What about other airlines?

Most other carriers in and out of Doha are still operating except for Air Arabia, Air Arabia Egypt, Air Cairo, EgyptAir, Emirates, Etihad, FlyDubai, Rotana Jet and Saudia.

Most other carriers are using the new restricted routes into Doha although provided the aircraft is not registered in Qatar they are allowed to use the Saudi Arabia or Egypt Airspace.

Timeline of Events:


5 June 2017

- UAE, KSA, Bahrain and Egypt withdraw licenses and close airspace
- All MS flights between CAI and DOH was zeroed out
- All GF flights between BAH and DOH closed for sale
- All QR flights between DOH and CAI closed for sale
- All QR staff travel was canceled

6 June 2017

- Airspace Restriction came into effect at 00:00 (UTC)
- All QR flights between DOH and UAE/Bahrain/KSA closed for sale
- QR flights between DOH and MLE still bookable
- QR Charters 3 aircraft from Jeddah to Muscat

7 June 2017
- QR Charters an aircraft from Jeddah to Kuwait

8 June 2017
- Qatar Airways website blocked in the UAE
- Qatar Airways offices in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain close

11 June 2017
- Second flight corridor added along the Saudi Arabia Coast

13 June 2017
- UAE Relaxes rules allowing non Qatari registered aircraft to use their airspace to/from Qatar but they are still not allowing flights between the UAE and Qatar from any operators.
- Egypt Relaxes rules allowing non Qatari registered aircraft to use their airspace to/from Qatar. The new rules also allow for non Qatar or Egypt registered aircraft to operate flights between the two countries.

14 June 2017
- Agreement between QR and BA/A3 on reticketing passengers (link below)



Further information:
- QR Travel Alert http://support.qatarairways.com/hc/e...bile_site=true
- QR FAQs http://support.qatarairways.com/hc/e...002369667-FAQs
- QR Charter flights arranged from Jeddah KSA to Muscat Oman http://support.qatarairways.com/hc/e...Muscat-to-Doha
- QR agreement with BA & A3 to reticket their flights http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/qatar...r-help-qr.html
- Political background and latest updates: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40155829
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Qatar Airways - UAE, KSA, Bahrain and Egypt withdraw licenses and close airspace

Old Jun 11, 2017, 4:01 am
  #721  
 
Join Date: May 2007
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I don't put any credence to the accusation that Qatar is financing Islamic extremism. Saudis just want to dominate the region and QR is a bit too independent for their taste. That's my admittedly amateurish read of the situation.

In practice this may make it difficult to use QR, an airline I love to fly, in many situations: obviously those involving other GCC countries or itineraries requiring long detours. So I hope this pointless mess will get resolved very soon. I would agree that QR seems to be doing a good job of handling it.

Last edited by aktchi; Jun 11, 2017 at 4:27 am
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Old Jun 11, 2017, 4:02 am
  #722  
Moderator: Qatar Airways
 
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I would encourage all FTers to refrain from posting political messages within the QR Forum.

Comments relating to those matters, can be posted within the OMNI.

For those who fail to keep on-topic, the QR Mod Team will exercise their rights to take action against those posters.

Actions against FTers, will include bans where necessary.


QR Mod Team
msm2000uk is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2017, 5:14 am
  #723  
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: QR Privilege Gold
Posts: 55
Originally Posted by Phil the Flyer
With apologies for repeating a question I raised earlier in this thread (post # 406) what are the experiences of people who have successfully changed the first departure and/or last arrival point of their QR itineraries from the likes of CAI (or any other impacted airport) to a suitable alternative (e.g. AMM, BEY) as far as which party (i.e. the passenger or QR) picks up the tab for the necessary positioning flights (e.g. CAI-AMM and AMM-CAI)?

Does QR bear the cost of these additional flights, or are they telling the passenger to pay? Is QR more amenable to bearing this cost if the additional flights are on OW airlines (e.g. RJ)?

Thank you.
I managed to get myself rerouted from RUH-DOH-PHL to RUH-KWI-DOH-PHL. This was suitable for me as I already had a 5 hour layover in DOH so it doesn't actually add any extra time onto my journey. Qatar Airways changed this for me and covered the extra flight from RUH-KWI with Kuwait Airlines. They also changed my DOH-PHL from a U class to an R class ticket which is very nice of them.
QR27 is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2017, 6:18 am
  #724  
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 3,944
QR27 absolutely the best possible solution for you and your child" Congratulations!

Please be aware that you will not earn Qmiles or Qpoints because earnings are based upon the original ticket class (U) which is the reward flight ticket class with zero earnings.

I hope your little one will sleep most of the time on DOH-PHL so that you can relax and enjoy the service.
remdk is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2017, 6:28 am
  #725  
 
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Originally Posted by QR27

I managed to get myself rerouted from RUH-DOH-PHL to RUH-KWI-DOH-PHL. ... Qatar Airways changed this for me and covered the extra flight from RUH-KWI with Kuwait Airlines.
QR27 - thank you for this information. I've been looking for an example of someone who had the cost of their necessary additional flights covered by QR - now I have such an example.
Phil the Flyer is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2017, 7:22 am
  #726  
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Programs: FB Gold, Accor Platinum.
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I am ticketed to fly KUL-DOH-LXR in just under 72 hours. My DOH-LXR flight is now officially cancelled on the Qatar website, and my trip status has changed from "Confirmed" to "Not Confirmed".

Nobody has bothered to contact me by e-mail, not even a generic "customer care" mailshot has been received.

When I phoned the Qatar office (in Qatar) this afternoon I was told to phone back within 24 hours of my flight, no sooner. The phone call line quality was so bad there was no point trying to get further information from the lady.

Guess I should try the Qatar office tomorrow, fortunately there is one about twenty minutes walk from my hotel, though I suspect there may be a large queue.
Davee58 is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2017, 8:03 am
  #727  
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Middle Earth, and often worse
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Yesterday on a DXB-MCT-DOH ticket the WY agent said the UAE authorities required proof of flying out of DOH before I could check in baggage through to DOH and get my boarding passes. I had to fire up my computer at check in, and retrieve my ticket (DOH-elsewhere). The agent took my e-ticket number and entered it into the check-in system and there it was.The boarding pass and baggage were allowed for the DXB-MCT-DOH flight.

Otherwise I would have been "stuck" in the UAE with no way to fly out to DOH....

That said, entering the UAE and leaving (at passport control was easy enough..
tmac100 is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2017, 11:03 am
  #728  
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: QR Privilege Gold
Posts: 55
Originally Posted by remdk
QR27 absolutely the best possible solution for you and your child" Congratulations!

Please be aware that you will not earn Qmiles or Qpoints because earnings are based upon the original ticket class (U) which is the reward flight ticket class with zero earnings.

I hope your little one will sleep most of the time on DOH-PHL so that you can relax and enjoy the service.
I kind of was thinking that although I might need to change to BAEC if this goes on longer. Gutted as Qatar is always my airline of choice and it's so sad what's happening. The only airline I would fly 14 hours with a 6 month old!
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Old Jun 11, 2017, 12:43 pm
  #729  
 
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i have a booking from DAR-DOH-DXB that flies on the 14th of june. i called them up to ask about changing this to DAR-DOH-MCT-DXB, with MCT-DXB on Oman air. They're fine with the routing, but say it's policy they can't change these bookings until 24 hours before departure.

this goes against the 72 hour timeframe i'm hearing about, but they said that where a another middle east carrier is involved the timeframe is 24 hours, since people had been getting denied boardings from other ME carriers. if they're reaccommodating you on another non ME carrier you can change 72 hours out.

anyone else getting this?
awxm88 is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2017, 2:23 pm
  #730  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Originally Posted by Phil the Flyer
QR27 - thank you for this information. I've been looking for an example of someone who had the cost of their necessary additional flights covered by QR - now I have such an example.
I'm not sure this example is what you were looking for, though. This traveller simply had a rerouting, without change of origin/destination. If you change origin or destination, however, I highly doubt QR will reimburse any costs of positioning to/from that airport.
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Old Jun 11, 2017, 4:08 pm
  #731  
 
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Originally Posted by awxm88
i have a booking from DAR-DOH-DXB that flies on the 14th of june. i called them up to ask about changing this to DAR-DOH-MCT-DXB, with MCT-DXB on Oman air. They're fine with the routing, but say it's policy they can't change these bookings until 24 hours before departure.

this goes against the 72 hour timeframe i'm hearing about, but they said that where a another middle east carrier is involved the timeframe is 24 hours, since people had been getting denied boardings from other ME carriers. if they're reaccommodating you on another non ME carrier you can change 72 hours out.

anyone else getting this?
This could be the same problem I have, as detailed a few posts above in post 725.

Last edited by Davee58; Jun 11, 2017 at 4:27 pm
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Old Jun 11, 2017, 6:07 pm
  #732  
 
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This has now been widely reported in Brazilian media: front page of Brazil's no. 1 newspaper Folha de So Paulo: gulf countries crisis affects flights from Brazil to Doha:

http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado...-o-qatar.shtml

Similar article posted on Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...n-big-trouble/
hardiwv is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2017, 7:34 pm
  #733  
 
Join Date: May 1998
Location: australia
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Hopefully not going too far off topic but my SYD-DOH-CAI trip tomorrow has been rerouted to SYD-DOH-KWI-CAI travelling in First. The transit in KWI is 12 hours!

On the Kuwait Airport website it states:
Under Kuwaiti air transport law, passengers facing a wait of more than an eight hours for a connecting flight are entitled to free rooms at the Safir courtesy of their air carrier.
Anyone know how I avail myself of this ? Is QR responsible or Kuwait Air?
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Old Jun 11, 2017, 10:24 pm
  #734  
 
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Originally Posted by tmac100
Yesterday on a DXB-MCT-DOH ticket the WY agent said the UAE authorities required proof of flying out of DOH before I could check in baggage through to DOH and get my boarding passes. I had to fire up my computer at check in, and retrieve my ticket (DOH-elsewhere). The agent took my e-ticket number and entered it into the check-in system and there it was.The boarding pass and baggage were allowed for the DXB-MCT-DOH flight.

Otherwise I would have been "stuck" in the UAE with no way to fly out to DOH....

That said, entering the UAE and leaving (at passport control was easy enough..
Ooooh..... that could prove annoying.

How far into the future was your onward ticket? Did it matter, would any onward ticket number do?

Last edited by VH-RMD; Jun 11, 2017 at 10:34 pm
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Old Jun 11, 2017, 11:22 pm
  #735  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Dubai
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Interesting article in the Guardian about how Qatar may seek reparations for costs to QR:

Doha is also briefing teams of international lawyers in London, Washington and elsewhere to challenge those behind the blockade – not least its impact on the national airline – with a view to seeking reparations.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-emirate-bites
DanielW is offline  

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