Yes to 7-hr layover, no to Qatar flight
dubai — An Emirati family chose a seven-hour layover at a foreign airport in the middle of their vacation than “take a flight that belonged to Qatar”.
Eissa Al Baloushi from Sharjah and his family were holidaying in Europe, when they refused to board a flight taking off from Oslo, Norway, after they found that they were booked on a Qatar Airways flight.
Eissa’s wife Ebtisam said: “We preferred to stay and wait in the airport than take a flight that belongs to Qatar, which our government boycotted due to their hostile policies.”
Ebtisam said the family had travelled to Oslo from Dubai on August 10 for their summer holidays. They booked a ticket to London on what they thought would be a British Airways flight. However, when they reached the airport in Oslo, they were shocked to find that they were booked on a Qatar Airways flight.
“My family refused to board the flight. We contacted the UAE Embassy in Oslo, which immediately booked us on another flight for London,” Ebtisam added.
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com
sharjah — An Emirati family displayed exemplary patriotism and loyalty to their nation, even while on vacation in Europe.
Eissa Al Baloushi from Sharjah and his family were on holiday in Norway, when they refused to board a flight taking off from Oslo. The reason being, their journey was booked on a Qatar Airways flight.
They were subsequently rebooked on a British Airways flight to London.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Eissa’s wife Ebtisam said they travelled to Oslo from Dubai on August 10 for their summer holidays and decided to the spend the remaining part of it in London. So they made an online booking for British Airways flight tickets. But when the family reached the airport on their travel date and completed all the procedures is when they discovered they would be boarding a Qatar Airlines flight.
“We were all shocked and all my family — husband, two sons, two daughters and my little nephew — refused to board the Qatar Airways flight. We contacted the UAE Embassy in Oslo, which responded despite Sunday being their day off, and immediately booked us on another flight to London,” Ebtisam said.
She added that although the original British Airways flight they booked was supposed to take off at 11 am Oslo time, their new rebooked one would only leave at 6 pm, meaning a sevenhour long layover at the airport. “But we preferred to stay and wait in the airport than taking a flight that belongs to Qatar, which our government boycotted due to their hostile policies against our nation.
“We will never support their businesses by buying flight tickets and we hope all our compatriots currently in Europe take the same steps to support the UAE.”
Ebtisam thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UAE Embassy in Oslo for their prompt response, and the support and care provided to them while at the airport. “They kept calling us every hour to check if we needed anything and make sure that we were doing fine,” she said.
In June this year, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahran and Egypt cut off all diplomatic, trade and transport ties with Qatar, accusing the GCC nation of supporting and funding terror outfits and maintaining alliances with countries that seek to undermine regional security and stability. Qatar Airways, the country’s national airline, is also banned from entering or using the airspace of these four countries.
Since the stand-off began, UAE citizens have rallied behind their government and its wise leadership’s decision to counter the forces that seek to spread discord, disrupt security and brotherly unity in the GCC and Arab region.
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com