Qatari fighters intercept two UAE passenger jets

Qatari fighter jets deliberately intercepted two UAE passenger planes flying to Manama yesterday morning, the head of the General Authority of Civil Aviation said.

Saif Al Suwaidi said the first interception took place at 10.30am and the second 30 minutes later.

Mr Al Suwaidi did not give details of the encounters but said the Qatari jets had acted in a dangerous manner and put the lives of innocent civilians at risk. He said that the action went international and aviation law.

“We hold Qatar responsible for this intimidation and hope that it doesn’t occur again,” Mr Al Suwaidi said.

Both planes landed safely in the Bahraini capital and completed their return flights without incident. There were no reported injuries or deaths.

Bahrain’s foreign ministry identified one of the planes as Emirates flight number EK837.

It left Dubai at 8.20am and landed 46 minutes later, flying out over international waters near the northern tip of Qatar, AP reported.

Mr Al Suwaidi said both flights were regular services and that Qatar had shown no earlier objection to their flight paths.

Airplane tracking website FlightRadar24 did not show any unusual routes between the UAE and Bahrain yesterday.

“There appears to be no deviation from standard routing and approach patterns in today’s flights,” spokesman Ian Petchenik said.

The incident comes just days after Doha accused Emirati fighter jets of breaching Qatari airspace and as a row between Qatar and a quartet of Arab countries that includes the UAE shows no sign of ending.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt have cut economic, diplomatic, travel and other ties with Qatar over its support of terrorism and interference in the internal affairs of its neighbours.

Justin Bronk, an expert on aerial combat at the London think tank Royal United Services Institute, told The National that in such interceptions jets usually flew alongside planes to harass

and escort them out of their country’s air space.

“Once a plane is intercepted, the first thing would be to make direct contact with the pilot through a communication terminal called guard frequency,” Mr Bronk said.

Asked if Qatar had violated

The first thing would be to make direct contact with the pilot JUSTIN BRONK Royal United Services Institute

international law following news of the first interception on Monday, Mr Bronk said: “We have little information on the communications that were made between Qatar and the UAE plane and on the exact location of the UAE plane, so I cannot say at this point.”

Qatar sent a complaint to the UN on Thursday last week alleging that an Emirati jet had breached its airspace on December 21 last year.

The following day Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, tweeted that the claim was “untrue and confused”.

Hours later, Qatar said it had sent another complaint to the UN, this time alleging that an Emirati jet had breached its airspace on January 3.