Airspace row: Qatar Airways says will seek all means to secure full compensation

Tribune News NetworkDohaQatar Airways has welcomed the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) ruling in favour of Qatar in an airspace dispute involving four other Arab countries.The UN’s top court on Tuesday rejected appeals by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), presenting a major win for Qatar in the dispute that began three years ago.In 2017, the four countries imposed a blockade on Qatar. Part of this action stopped Qatar Airways’ flights from using its neighbours’ airspace.Qatar Airways on Wednesday said it welcomes the judgment of the International Court of Justice affirming that the ICAO Council has the jurisdiction to hear any disagreement relating to the interpretation and implementation of the Chicago Convention 1944 and the International Air Services Transit Agreement."We look forward to observing the return of the State of Qatar to Montreal to urge the ICAO Council to condemn the illegal airspace blockade of it and take appropriate actions to require the four blockading States to comply with their obligations under international law in order to restore the normalcy of international civil aviation," Qatar Airways said in the statement.In line with the ruling of the ICJ and the legal precedent allowing Qatar to continue its case at ICAO against the blockading countries, Qatar Airways said it would pursue its case for appropriate compensation of the financial injuries inflicted on Qatar Airways as a result of the illegal airspace blockade."The arbitrary and abusive measures that these four States have taken against us have devastated our carefully planned decades-long programme for investment and growth in those countries; they have arbitrarily prevented us from serving hundreds of thousands of passengers, and transporting tens of thousands of tons of cargo to and from each of these countries annually. At Qatar Airways, we firmly believe that travel is a right for all and that this world is all of ours to explore.  Qatar Airways will pursue all available legal remedies to secure full compensation to protect our rights and the rights of our customers.