Qatar Airways mass cancellations while shifting routes over Iranian Airspace

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eTN Managing Editor

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June 5, 2017

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After Saudi Arabia closed their airspace for Qatar Airways, the airline was forced to cancel all flights from Doha to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A  message on the hard to find “alert” section of the Qatar Airways website says:
Qatar Airways has suspended all flights to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia until 23:59 UTC  on 05^thJune (02.59 Doha Time on 6^th June).
For passengers with existing bookings, please call +974 4023 0072 or contact your nearest Qatar Airways office.

Unannounced at this time are hundreds of more cancellations in the immediate planning for  flights from and to Doha connecting UAE, Bahrain, and Egyptian airports
eTN called Qatar Airways media relations and was told more information is not available at this time. According to the news agency Reuters also  Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) canceled all flights to Doha, Qatar. eTN was unable to confirm this independently. A high ranking Saudia official told eTurboNews he needed to get clarification from top management.
Flight Radar data shows increased traffic over Iran indicating Qatar Airways is working with the Islamic Republic to reroute flights to other destinations over Iranian airspace. The airspace over Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt is closed for any Qatar registered aircraft due to sudden political issues.
The implementation for passengers, airlines and the tourism industry are not known at this time but could be tremendous.  It appears Qatar Airways was caught by surprise and is still preparing to handle this unexpected political made emergency.
The only airline so far that made an official announcement was the national carrier for the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways.