UAE: Qatar intercepted 2 planes
Qatar denied that the first plane had been intercepted, but there was no immediate denial from Doha for the second incident.
Abu Dhabi: The United Arab Emirates accused rival Qatar of “intercepting” two Emirati passenger planes en route to Bahrain Monday in the latest incident between the Gulf rivals.
Qatar denied that the first plane had been intercepted, but there was no immediate denial from Doha for the second incident.
The UAE “General Civil Aviation Authority received a message from a national carrier on Monday morning that an aircraft on a routine flight to Manama was intercepted by Qatari fighter jets”, it said in a statement carried by the state news agency.
The authority said it was “a flagrant and serious threat to the safety of civil aviation and a clear violation of international law”. “This is a routine flight that has all the required paper work,” it said. The authority later said a second Emirati passenger plane bound for Bahrain was also intercepted by Qatari fighter jets.
It said the second plane was intercepted "during its descent towards Bahrain International Airport", adding that it was also on a routine pre-scheduled flight. A spokeswoman for Qatar's foreign ministry denied the first incident had occurred.
"The state of Qatar announces that the claims of Qatari fighter planes intercepting a UAE civil aircraft (are) completely false," Lulwa al-Khater said on Twitter.