Dubai, Jan 15: The United Arab Emirates Monday claimed that Qatari fighter jets intercepted one of its commercial airliners in international airspace on the way to Bahrain, an allegation promptly denied by a Doha official.
The UAE’s two major airlines declined to immediately comment. The claim could further escalate tensions between Qatar and the four Arab nations that have been boycotting it for months, among them the UAE, home to the world’s busiest international airport.
It also follows two complaints by Qatar to the United Nations about Emirati military aircraft allegedly violating its international airspace amid the diplomatic crisis.
The UAE’s state-run WAM news agency made the claim Monday, citing the country’s General Civil Aviation Authority. “The GCAA received a message from one of the UAE’s national carriers
Monday morning that one of its aircraft on a flight to Manama on a normal route had been intercepted by Qatari fighters,” the report said.
“The flight was a regular, scheduled service on a known flight-path that met all the required and internationally recognised approvals and permits.”
WAM did not identify the carrier involved, nor did it elaborate on details of the purported encounter. Saif Al Thani, a Qatari government spokesman, denied the UAE’s claim on Twitter, calling it “completely untrue.”
The UAE is home to two major national carriers, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad and Dubai-based Emirates. Both airlines declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press.
US Air Force Central Command, which is based at the sprawling al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, also did not immediately have any report about any incident involving a commercial aircraft in the region, said Lt Col Damien Pickart, an Air Force spokesman.
AP