Friday, Jan 06, 2012
Gulf News
Dubai The Arab world’s largest carrier, Emirates, was forced to abandon its fare promotion in Qatar recently following failure to obtain pre-approval for it by Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority.
In a global sale launched by Emirates last December 26, the carrier slashed fares to more than 100 cities by up to 25 per cent for bookings up to January 9 on return airfares throughout its network.
Asked if the carrier had secured the approval now, Ahmad Khoory, Emirates Senior Vice-President for Gulf, the Middle East and Iran, told Gulf News in a statement that due to the short time span of the campaign, there would not be sufficient time to introduce new advertising.
In an earlier statement, he said that after the global sale began in Qatar, Emirates received notification from the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority requesting the airline to “stop the sale with immediate effect, due to the requirement of governmental pre-approval”.
“Emirates respects the government rules and has subsequently stopped the offer within Qatar,” said Khoory.
Current stand
Clarifying the airline’s current stand, he told Gulf News: “Further to our initial clarification on the Global Sale withdrawal, Emirates would like to elaborate that the infractions highlighted by the Qatar Department of Civil Aviation related to concerns regarding insufficient information in our advertising which was deemed confusing to consumers.”
In its promotion, Emirates said passengers can save up to 25 per cent off all published First Class, Business Class and Economy Class fares departing between January 22 and June 30 when travelling round-trip to any destination on Emirates’ global network.
Meanwhile, according to media reports published in Qatar on Monday, the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority could face legal action over its blocking of the promotion, for denying people the opportunity to benefit from the offer.
“Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority has breached the law of the land by stopping Emirates airline from launching its promotion and can be taken to court for denying people the opportunity to benefit from the offer, legal circles say,” reported the Doha-based The Peninsula.
Guarantees
The report quoted lawyer Yousuf Al Zaman (as he told Al Raya in an interview) saying: “Qatar’s Constitution guarantees the freedom to do business legally and based on social justice.”
He added: “Businesses are allowed to operate here provided they do not prevent competition.”
By Shweta Jain?Senior Reporter
Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.
