Qatar Airways may be in big trouble
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Six Members of the European Union parliament are in jail. Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Baker is furious – and this may only be an early beginning.
The Vice president of the European Parliament was stripped of her title. She was arrested. Greek MP Eva Kaili was arrested in Greece for taking bribes from the State of Qatar. She was accused to provide political favors to Qatar. In her recent speech, the MP told the European Parliament that negative allegations against Qatar were unjustified.
A large amount of cash was found when Eva Kaili and five other members of the European Parliament were arrested.
Qatar has been in the world spotlight as a host of the ongoing World Soccer Worldcup. EU and US media had accused this oil rich country of human rights abuses. The outspoken Qatar-Airways-CEO Akbar Al Baker was upset about the negative media campaign against his country.
The state-owned Qatar Airways Group employs more than 43,000 people. The carrier has been a member of the Oneworld Alliance since October 2013. QR is the first Persian Gulf carrier to be a member of one of the three major airline alliances
Akbar Al Baker had been the CEO of the airline, and insiders told eTurboNews, nothing major will ever pass unless Al Baker signs off on this. Qatar Airways holds the title of a Five Star Airline.
FDP, a German political party is urging the EU to cancel the open sky agreement with Qatar Airways. This was endorsed by Jan-Christop Oetjen, the Vice Chair in charge of aviation agreements for the European Union.
The Open Sky agreement signed between the EU and Qatar is now raising questions about corruption.
“If this was the case, this agreement cannot go forward, said Oetjen.
The new “Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement” between the EU and Qatar has been signed at the end of 2021 and put into effect immediately.
Qatar Airways had been increasing its frequency to Europe ever since.
Germany has some restrictions in place based on a bilateral agreement signed previously. Such limitations are supposed to disappear by the end of 2024. In the meantime, the carrier added a flight from Doha to Dusseldorf as a new German destination.
Lufthansa and a number of other European carriers had been lobbying to stop this open sky agreement for some time. The concern is that a state-funded carrier is not a fair competition for other airlines, and is costing European jobs.
source: eTN
