Qatar Airways sues boycotting countries, seeks $5 billion

Dubai: Long-haul carrier Qatar Airways said on Wednesday that it launched international arbitration seeking at least 5 billion from four boycotting Arab countries for blocking its flights from their airspace and their markets, years into a simmering political dispute between the nations.

The Doha-based carrier did not elaborate where it initiated international arbitration against Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, all of whom launched a boycott of Qatar in June 2017 that continues today.

Calls to the carrier's offices rang unanswered on Wednesday and government officials did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press. In a statement, the airline said the arbitration involved three separate agreements Qatar had with the boycotting nations: the Organisation of the Islamic Conference Investment Agreement, the Arab Investment Agreement and the bilateral investment treaty between the State of Qatar and Egypt.

The decision by the blockading states to prevent Qatar Airways from operating in their countries and flying over their airspace is a clear breach of civil aviation conventions and several binding agreements they are signatories to, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker said in a statement.

The blockading states must be held accountable for their illegal actions in the aviation sector, he added.