Qatar Airways' Boeing Dreamliner, which has been grounded in Nepal for 10 days due to regional tensions over flight safety, will reach London's Heathrow Airport through a non-scheduled charter flight permit.
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Qatar Airways' Boeing Dreamliner, which has been grounded in Kathmandu for 10 days, is scheduled to fly to London at 10 pm tonight. The plane, which was grounded in Nepal due to regional tensions over flight security, will reach London's Heathrow Airport through a non-scheduled charter flight.
After the United States and Israel carried out a joint military attack on Iran on February 16, air security risks have increased in nine countries in the Gulf region. After Qatar banned civilian flights in its airspace, dozens of Qatar Airways planes were grounded at various airports around the world. In Nepal, two wide-body Qatari aircraft and five crew members were grounded in Kathmandu on the same day.
The situation has become such that an alternative route has to be used as the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority in Doha has not yet completely lifted the ban on Qatari airspace. Gulf civil aviation authorities are maintaining restrictions on civilian flights due to the increased risk of possible retaliatory air and drone attacks from some Gulf countries, including Iran.
Meanwhile, Qatar Airways has decided to send a wide-body aircraft based in Kathmandu to London via Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal on Monday granted permission for a non-scheduled passenger charter flight for the aircraft. The aircraft will carry 311 passengers stranded in Kathmandu. According to Qatar Airways, it will take about 15 hours and 10 minutes to reach London from Kathmandu. However, the aircraft will make a technical stop in Riyadh for about 2 hours. There, refueling, crew change and catering services will be provided for passengers.
'No new tickets have been sold for this flight. Priority has been given to Qatar Airways passengers stranded in Kathmandu,' Company sources said. About 90 percent of the passengers are British passport holders, the source said. The plane will not return to Kathmandu after reaching London. Currently, Qatar Airways is operating only a limited number of flights from Doha, bypassing the affected air routes. The company has adopted a strategy to send its planes stranded outside Doha from a second destination to a third destination.
Preparations are underway to return another Qatar Airways plane stranded in Kathmandu soon, but the date has not been set, another company employee said. According to a notice issued by Qatar Airways on Sunday, regular flights to and from Doha have been temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari skies. The company says that regular flights will resume only after the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority declares that Qatar's skies are completely safe. However, Qatar Airways has stated that it will operate a limited flight schedule to take the affected passengers to their destinations after receiving temporary permission from the authority to use limited air routes.
On Sunday, Qatar Airways operated flights from Doha to Seoul, Moscow, London (Heathrow), New Delhi, Madrid, Islamabad, Beijing, Perth, Nairobi and Istanbul. Similarly, on Tuesday, the company has announced that it is preparing to operate flights from Doha to destinations including Cairo, London (Heathrow), Jeddah, Manila, Muscat, Istanbul, Mumbai, Delhi, Nairobi, Islamabad, Madrid, Frankfurt, Colombo and Milan. Similarly, Qatar Airways has announced that limited flights from these destinations to Doha will also be operated on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
