Transportation Ministry to Transfer Qatar Airways 'Umrah' Passengers to Other Airlines
Jakarta. The Ministry of Transportation announced on Wednesday (07/06) that Qatar Airways passengers seeking to perform the umrah, or minor Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, will be transferred to other airlines following a recent diplomatic riff in the Middle East.
Earlier this week, Saudia Arabia, Egypt, Yemen, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain all cut formal diplomatic ties and air and sea links with Qatar, accusing the Gulf country of sponsoring and funding radical terrorist groups.
According to state-run Saudi Press Agency, the severing of diplomatic ties was made to protect national security from increasing threats of terrorism and extremism, which the Saudi government has accused Qatar of sponsoring.
Since the announcement of the cutting of diplomatic ties to Qatar, there has been widespread speculation in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, that government officials might revoke the license for Qatar Airways to operate flights in and out of the Southeast Asian country.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi, however, denied those rumors.
"We did not revoke Qatar Airways's license, we only transferred passengers seeking to perform the umrah to other airlines," Budi said on Wednesday.
Because of the recent spat, Qatar Airways has been banned from entering Saudi and the four other countries' airspace, forcing the airline to reroute its flights over Iran, Turkey and Oman.
Budi said Qatar Airways will still be able to serve flights to and from Indonesia.
Previously, Agus Santoso, the director-general of air transportation at the ministry, said Qatar Airways passengers on umrah pilgrimages would not be affected by Qatar's diplomatic isolation.
More recently, Agus urged travel agencies that have booked passengers on Qatar Airways flights to the aforementioned countries to report to the Transportation Ministry. The government plans to book alternate airlines for those passengers.
The new policy to transfer passengers from Qatar Airways to the countries involved in the diplomatic standoff is expected to last until a resolution to the crisis is found.
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