Feb 03 2012 |
more articles from
|
Qatar Airways threatens to halt Maldives flights
Friday, Feb 03, 2012
Gulf News
Dubai Qatar Airways has threatened to cancel its flights to the Maldives following planned moves by the private operator of Male International Airport to raise handling fees by 51 per cent.
Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said late yesterday in a statement that the airline is “dismayed” to hear of planned moves that will “significantly impact operations” and “threaten the future of its services to the holiday islands”.
The airline chief, who is well known for his forceful comments, said that the planned increases were “totally unreasonable”.
“These steps may have not been thought through seriously by the airport operator and I urge them to think again,” he said, adding that the Maldives economy is wholly based on tourism.
“If we or any other major player withdraws services because of these unwarranted and draconian measures, it will be the people of the Maldives who will lose out, impacting their livelihoods as they rely heavily on the tourism industry,” Al Baker declared.
Qatar Airways has been flying to the Maldives for more than 10 years and currently operates twice-daily flights from Doha.
Higher fares
The carrier stated that moves by the Maldives airport operator to increase fees will lead to “higher passenger fares, greater operational costs” besides “seriously questioning” Qatar Airways’ continued presence in the Maldives.
The carrier also said it carries hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers from around the world to the Indian Ocean islands, helping to significantly support the local tourism industry and the country’s economy.
aviation
If we or any other major player withdraws services because of these unwarranted and draconian measures, it will be the people of the Maldives who will lose out, impacting their livelihoods as they rely heavily on the tourism industry.”
Akbar Al Baker
CEO, Qatar Airways
By Shweta Jain?Senior Reporter
© Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.
Zawya Comment Policy
-
Zawya encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You agree that when you add content to this discussion your comments will not:
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse. - The content posted on www.zawya.com is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Zawya. Zawya reserves the right to review all comments prior to posting and edit or delete any contribution, but Zawya is not responsible for and can not be held liable for any content posted by members of the public on www.zawya.com.
- Zawya is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through www.zawya.com. Any links to third party websites from www.zawya.com do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Zawya and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
- By submitting your comment, you hereby give Zawya the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comments worldwide, in perpetuity.
Copyright © 2012 Zawya Ltd. All rights reserved. |
provided by www.zawya.com |
Post Your Comment