UN body rules in favor of expanding Qatari airspace
The judgment by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) comes six months after GCC summit ending three year embargo of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt.
A Qatar Airways Airbus A350 takes off from Hamad International Airport near the Qatari capital, Doha, on the first commercial flight to Saudi Arabia in three and a half years following a Gulf diplomatic thaw, on Jan. 11, 2021. - KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images
July 22, 2021
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations body, has given preliminary support to Qatar's quest to gain control of its airspace just months after the Gulf state mended ties with its neighbors following a yearslong rift. Doha would have control of two new regions known as the Doha Flight Information Region (FIR) along with an additional Doha Search and Rescue Region (SRR). Qatar had previously ceded control of its airspace to neighboring Bahrain under a bilateral agreement.