Qatar Airways Group has submitted four requests for international arbitration in investment disputes against the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
A statement issued by "Qatar Airways" stated that the arbitration requests aim to compensate Qatar Airways for stopping the four blockade countries carrying tanker operations in their markets, and preventing them from flying in their airspace, and seeking compensation at least $ 5 billion from the blockading countries for the sake of Wrongful acts.
Qatar Airways seeks to obtain full compensation for these damages through requests for international arbitration in investment disputes that were submitted under three separate treaties: the Investment Agreement of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab Investment Agreement, and the bilateral investment treaty between the State of Qatar and Egypt.
The arbitration request notices clarify that, through the measures taken by the blockading countries against Qatar Airways, they have violated obligations related to their role in the aforementioned agreements, including the confiscation of the Qatari carrier’s investments, the failure to adequately protect these investments, prejudice the group, and the failure to provide fair and equitable treatment For the carrier and its investments.
Explicit violation
The CEO of Qatar Airways Group, Akbar Al-Baker, said that the decision taken by the four blockading countries to prevent the company from operating in its markets and flying in its airspace constitutes a clear violation of civil aviation agreements on the one hand, and for several binding agreements and treaties signed by these countries on the other.
He added that after more than three years of efforts to resolve this crisis amicably through dialogue that did not produce any results, "we have followed all means that will legally redress us in order to protect our rights and obtain full compensation for the violations we have been subjected to."
Al-Baker added, "We believe that the blockading countries must be held accountable for the unlawful practices they have undertaken in the aviation sector, including failure to fulfill their obligations under bilateral and multilateral agreements, in accordance with the provisions of international law."
Al-Baker pointed out that despite the efforts of the blockading countries "to harm us, we have maintained in Qatar Airways our global position, and we will continue our efforts to ensure that air travel is a right for everyone."
A great investment
It is mentioned that, over three decades, Qatar Airways invested heavily in the markets of the four blockading countries in order to serve hundreds of thousands of travelers from these countries, and transport tens of thousands of tons of goods by air to and from these countries annually, according to the Qatari carrier's statement.
On June 5, 2017 without warning, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt took joint measures with the intent to cause willful harm to Qatar Airways and its operations, as these measures aimed at closing the local offices of the Qatar Airways in these countries, destroying the large investments that the tanker pumped into These markets, which have caused great damage to its global network of destinations, according to the statement.
These measures included closing the airspace of these countries and their airports to Qatar Airways aircraft, and canceling the licenses and permits of the Qatar Airways to operate there. As these measures continue to this day, the effects of this blockade continue to undermine the operations of the national carrier of the State of Qatar, the statement states.