The tentacles of Qatar spread deeply into the British aviation establishment. Not only is the state-owned Qatar Airways a big user of airports in London and Manchester, it is the largest shareholder in IAG, the British Airways owner, with a stake of 20 per cent.
Qatar’s sovereign investment fund, Qatar Holding, is a 20 per cent shareholder in Heathrow, making it the second largest investor.
Akbar al-Baker, Qatar Airways’ chief executive, is among the senior non-executives that sit on the board of the airport.
Qatar’s interest in Heathrow and BA is strategic, with London seen as key to transatlantic routes, the most lucrative global aviation market.
It is at the western end of the new Silk Road that Qatar Airways and its Gulf rivals Emirates and Etihad, as well as Turkish Airlines, are carving up.
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With Mr al-Baker, a mercurial and controversial executive, attending the International Air Transport Association’s annual conference in Cancun, Mexico, Qatar Airways said little about the impact of the decision by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to sever ties, close borders and deny the use of their airspace to Qatar.
The embargo included Emirates and Etihad airlines suspending services to and from Doha, the Qatari capital, and Qatari Airways being locked out of Dubai and Saudi airports. Bahrain’s Gulf Airways also said that it would be boycotting Doha.
While the embargo will cause chaos regionally, Qatar was unwilling or unable to say what the impact would be on its key international connections to the west and east.
Alexandre de Juniac, the IATA director-general, said: “Our industry depends on open borders. We would like borders to be reopened, the sooner the better.”
