Thursday, Feb 02, 2012
DOHA (Zawya Dow Jones)--Qatar Airways has said it's "dismayed" over plans by the Maldives to raise airport fees and has threatened to cancel services to the tropical archipelago.
In a strongly worded statement late Wednesday, Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker said a planned move by a private operator at Male International Airport to hike handling fees by 51% was "totally unreasonable".
"These steps may have not been thought through seriously by the airport operator and I urge them to think again," he said.
Qatar Airways said the move would hurt tourism in the Maldives, a collection of islands in the Indian Ocean popular with holidaymakers and honeymooning couples.
Al Baker urged the Maldives authorities "to think about the future prosperity of its tourism industry."
The fast-growing Gulf carrier, which has been flying to the islands for 10 years, said airport fee hikes would lead to higher passenger fares, greater operational costs and would "seriously question Qatar Airways' continued presence in the Maldives".
Al Baker is no stranger to controversy and is well-known for his outbursts. At the Dubai Air Show in November he said planemaker Airbus was "still learning about how to make airplanes".
-By Alex Delmar-Morgan, Dow Jones Newswires; +974 6659 9818; alex.delmar-morgan@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.
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02-02-12 0855GMT
