Airline operations to Doha not impacted, but flights get longer

India-based airlines on Tuesday said their operations to Doha have not been impacted by the imposition of airspace restrictions on flights to and from Qatar. However, services to the Gulf country will take longer as some routes have been altered.

The air space restrictions follow the decision by some Middle East states to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar over its alleged links to terrorists.

"No disruption of AI service to and from Doha," an Air India official said on Tuesday.

Currently, three airlines -- Jet Airways, IndiGo and Air India Express -- operate flights from several destinations in India to Doha. The spokespersons of Jet Airways and IndiGo have confirmed that their flight operations have also not been impacted.

However, the flights will get longer as routes have been altered to avoid the airspace restrictions.

"Our operations to Doha from India have not been impacted. However, due to airspace restrictions our flight path have been altered which will have a bearing on the operating time," an official with a private airline told IANS.

According to him, flights would now overfly Pakistan and Iran to reach Qatar.

On its part, Qatar Airways said that it has suspended all flights to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kingdom of Bahrain and Egypt until further notice.

"All customers booked on affected flights will be provided with alternative options, including the option of a full refund on any unused tickets and free rebooking to the nearest alternative Qatar Airways network destination," the airline said in a statement.

--IANS

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