Emirates sale stopped in Qatar

Prior to independence in 1971, the UAE was known as the Trucial States or Trucial Oman, in reference to a 19th-century truce between the local sheikhs, hereditary rulers of the territories, and the United Kingdom.-Tax Tiger

(Arabic) End of Monopoly and Qatarisation of Qatar Airways

http://www.alarab.qa/details.php?artid=167312&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Auto-Translated:

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ar&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alarab.qa%2Fdetails.php%3Fartid%3D167312%26utm_source%3Dtwitterfeed%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter

Boycott Qatar Airways by Qataris: http://twitition.com/eutzu (funny reasons but still..)

Twitter Account https://twitter.com/#!/BoycottQatAir

@boycottQatAir (mainly in Arabic)

They would have blocked it anyway - too much like healthy competition

Answering a question on the

cancellation of the recent

promotion of Emirates airlines

in Qatar, the Civil Aviation Authority

(QCAA) chairman Abdul

Aziz al-Nuaimi pointed out that

according to the air transport

agreement between Qatar and

the UAE, the airline should have

submitted a request prior to

announcing the promotion.

“Consequently, the promotion

campaign and the discounts

were stopped and the company

was asked to submit a request

so they would be able to

proceed with their campaign

upon approval. However, the

airline withdrew the off er and

did not submit a request,” said

al-Nuaimi.

Source: Gulf Times

You hate me?

Wow, that explains it all: you bitch about people not being democratic but you simplify things by going racial about just any disagreement and not only that, you will always end any discussions by saying "if you don't like it, leave!"

You know nothing about democracy, now you come and talk about monopoly? Get back to work you tool!

Genesis - thank you for your salient points. It can only be a good thing for QA to have some healthy competition, good for them from a customer service point of view and good for us for that reason and price wise.

i have been flying with many airlines but i dont know for what this airline claims as 5star.? i have personally seen and raised many complaints when i noticed poorest customer serice by them onboard aircraft, their tickets are really over priced and they really misuse of their freedom here as only airline i hope some day they will realise and it will be toooo late for them, as nothings stays same all the time, All the best to frequent flyers..!

Qatari writer Mariam Al saad wrote this article in local daily Alarb :

Is Qatar Airways subject to accountability by the newly announced Administrative Control and Transparency Authority? 

The state owns almost half of the carrier shares , providing it with almost 95% airspace of its air traffic. Which has impact on the space available to lease to other airlines. 

You want the truth, how do we defend the rights of other airlines against our flag carrier? Don’t we all strive that our national carrier gets all the attention? Of course, that’s our endeavor in normal circumstances when the carrier is a true national, not a commercial monopoly that empties the pockets of citizens , fires them and treat them as if they were pampered non-productive labor force! 

We demand that transparency & administrative control of the newly formulated government body to subject Qatar airways to audit & scrutiny to supervise their resources , expenditure and disbursement aspects.

What’s the role of the advisory council & consumer protection in curbing this monopoly. Qatar airways file is about to open to the public, to see what's inside of surprises which may not please many

http://www.alarab.qa/details.php?issueId=1485&artid=166999

Monopoly is if you don't have any carriers flying this country.

Now if you feel the direct flight is a monopoly, then for me it's not, maybe you can categorize it as unfair practice, but tell me, if US doesn't want a country to have nuclear technology, what do you call it? FAir practice.

It's in the view of every individual what is fair and what is not. If QA can do direct flight, it has the approval of the countries it deals with OR IS IT? Tell me, does QA flies direct to a country without permission? Precisely I asked above, why do these other countries allowed QA to fly direct to them? Can't they stop it? ARe you telling me that Qatar is "bullying" the other countries? Are these not part of agreement between these countries.

The problem is many have this mindset that anything, I said anything they can throw against Qatar, they will make it an issue and when someone opposed their idea, they will brownnosing! Pathetic but try to digest that. They would even call you "bastard" directly. Arrogant? Nope, for me it's more of UNEDUCATED way of debating. From people who believe they are superior race and yet depends on other countries to bail their economies! My my my!

very arrogant to belittle people from some place of the world. As it seems you have the monopoly of talents. Your foul language reveals the true you, nothing god you can contribute in civil discussion.

Flor - do you not understand he concept of monopolies, free market economies and fair trade practices? If you do not understand these things (and I think it is safe to assume this is a correct interpretation of your understanding), I would recommend you refrain from commenting.

Emirates didnt file the fares in QCAA and uploaded in the GDS system. I dont know whether its QA or QCAA themself , got few tickets issued from some agencies and fined Emirates.

A product like Emirates dont really need to undersell in this kind of a market. Its simply the inefficient sales team , sorry .. Its a self selling product otherwise.

Flor,

The only reason why you keep saying "stay or leave" is because:

1. you got no self-esteem

2. no choice

3. no culture/education

4. no other country will make you feel like a westerner (since you keep calling someone from the western hemisphere a fake-westerner)

Let's face it flor, you are the luckiest idiot on earth, while you make a decent salary you still got A LOT of time left in your pocket to show what a good postwh*re you are.

Lucky bastard!

the person I was talking was talking about the inconvenience of travelling with stop-over and yet many prefers to travel by Emirates (which is the topic) which has a stop-over to a third destination.

I remember the thread about the "nut allergy", was it many says they should avoid the Thai restaurant if that OP cares about his child.

It's the same thing here, if the person I responded felt it a strnaglehold to her to fly QA, why stay with that carrier?

ANd regarding the locals, was it they themselves opted for a CHOICE? Boycott their own carrier. That's my point here. Why too much rant when one can have a choice? If they felt that the decision of QCAA is unfair, then do't bother to fly QA? So it's a choice, STAY or LEAVE! WAs it hard to comprehend?

That is Flor1212...sos

'if you view it as stranglehold and other many inconvenience for your family, why stay here.'

Maybe you should tell these locals that?

'A group of Qataris has launched a campaign on local social networking sites against Qatar Airways urging people to boycott the airline due to what they claim is high fares and its reluctance to nationalise jobs.

Within a few hours after the launch of the online ‘Boycott Qatar Airways’ campaign the number of its followers reached 500. The professed aims of the campaign are to end the ‘monopoly’ of Qatar Airways by amending Qatar’s civil aviation law, reduce its fares and press the airline to provide more jobs to citizens'

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/178787-online-drive-against-air-fares.html

As a comment, I recently had a lovely trip out and return to Qatar, via Emirates. Qatar Air cannot compare IMHO.

Venezuelan!

brownosah!

Flor - thanks I was waiting for someone to say 'if you don't like it leave' same old nonsense. people have a right to dislike certain things that happen here and have a say - just like you pointed out to someone else earlier. how can we instigate fairer commercial practices without acknowledging them first?

and other many inconvenience for your family, why stay here. Isn't it safe to assume that it's a matter of choice?

And does it mean that flying Emirates with or without their sales promo will also make you inconvenient as you will still have a stop-over? Only for discussion!

do you think I agreed with QCAA? I don't but it doesn't mean also that I will agree with some disrespectful people here.

And my position for QA is, even if it is available but if my budget will not be sufficient, I will still use other airlines. But if the difference is not that big and if I really want convenience over money, I would fly QA.

I really don't know where the misconception came that I am defending QCAA action.

Flor, you are right, they do but the CAA in the UK would never let BA for instance impose unfair restrictions on other carriers in order to further their business interests, in fact it is illegal to do so and that is why we have a monopolies commission to stop such unfair practises.

And in terms of flying other airlines - yes, i love to fly other airlines and my journey takes a lot longer because i have to go through a 3rd country, or in terms of BA - sit on the tarmac in the middle of summer in Bahrain with a toddler and a baby in 50+c heat. QA and the authorities know that most people will not do this and so they have a stranglehold over us.

what about in other countries airport, don't they control the landing rights there? I mean that country of course.

and I thought you want open discussion. So you want one opinion only? Is that democracy?

not to fly QA. Is that hard to do? Fly Etihad or Gulf Air or anything. Is Emirates really that good that losing a discounted amount (for people earning too much) is really hard to accept?

flor1212, I wish you could give it a break..

Of course they can, they control landing rights at the airport and the cost of the landing rights. If a certain airline wants to fly direct from say Europe, they either refuse them landing rights until they are routed through somewhere else or they make it so expensive that it is uneconomic to do so.

Qatar is a struggling nation, right? I wonder why they could imposed such onerous request to fly direct? Hmmmmm?

Flor and why do you think that QCAA have taken that standpoint? To enable QA to be the only airline to fly direct routes to popular destinations and to stop us residents of taking advantage of good deals from other regional airlines - otherwise what is their point. Don't forget there are only a handful of families who control most of the businesses here and they all look after their own

flor...have you ever played a game of carrom?

Happy New Year to you Flor, hope its a good one for you and your family!! Full of happiness and prosperity!

it is QCAA, not QA! Are we online?

Flor, not sure why you are derailing the topic about QA unfair strategies - it is like you want to be over charged? Very odd indeed - now what is so hard to understand about not wanting to be ripped off in Qatar (again)

Did I say it was YOU? If you're not the one, then you're not the one. Was it really that hard to understand. If you can post your rant, CAN'T I post my comments? Go on, if that's makes you happy! Just like the advise of stealth, IGNORE!

errr Flor I did not rant and I did not name call - you did (and others too).

So, let me get this straight, you think that we should put up and shut up and not moan about high prices from the one airline that flies direct to many of our home destinations. Please tell me how we make our feelings known to the authorities here? This is a genuine question by the way

but these "good" people just like to stir something!

cant you ignore it?

but namecalling should not be part of the rant!

whats the problem if they rant?

I have said many times, I used the three carriers whichever suits my schedule and budget. But I really prefer QA because it's a direct flight home. I travel on lean season so I get the ticket less or book it 6 month ahead.

You just don't have the connection to Emirates to get the discount. Even with no sale, I could get a discounted fare. But I don't like waiting 3 hours on an airport doing nothing or waiting for the rip back home.

But objectively, I find nothing wrong about the move of QCAA. It's their authority and their aviation right. Now if Emirates find something fishy, then they should file formal complaints with the authority, NOT ranting as you people do.

and you think complaining here will give anything if ever.

I'm not defending it, but what's the use of rant.

Some say most people wants to travel business class because of obvious reasons and yet brag here on board. Of course the price is much much different. And they don't here a comment from someone like me.

And yet, when I choose to fly direct home, some will raise heaven and earth and call me an a**e licker. Intelligent people you think? No, they are bas***d!

Flor - i see everything wrong with it. You basically have carrier that has the monopoly on direct flights to major destinations which gives them carte blanche to charge what they want and hey presto, they do! This is against the principle of free trade which can only be good for the customer but guess what, they are not interested in what the customer wants

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/emirates-gets-slap-on-wrist-for-fares-sale-in-qatar-438189.html

Arabian Business is quoting one senior Emirates staffer as saying: "Emirates... has subsequently stopped the offer within Qatar."

The good news is that even when Emirates isn't offering 25% discounts, they are still cheaper than Qatar Airways.

Yes they do, as after the cancellation I tried purchasing a ticket and got it for the price i normally pay...so hush now and get the facts in order...nd move out of that ar>>>>se licking mode of urs ...

yup, greed is the name of he game here

It is call greed and selfish

Competition is healthy, as if that short sale wud affect the coffers of QA

I was 1 of the lucky ones that got it just in the nic of time nd yes kiwisilver if I am correct we fly to the same destination nd yes I got it 3000 cheaper than normal. And as for QA they don't fly to home of the silver fern....GO EMIRATES.

s_isale - I would suggest that your relative flew on the london gatwick run, not heathrow? That was a common comment about this route, and hence the reason they stopped it last year and put on another one to Manchester daily.

Back to my point, as far as I know the 2 direct routes out of UK - Manchester and Heathrow are always very busy and one I know from pesonal experience and the other my husband often travels to Heathrow and says the same.

As I said before, what is wrong with allowing BA to fly direct from those 2 airports and grant them landing rights here to do that, not just via Bahrain, which is useless

I have had relatives coming on that flight, mind you its not a recent one, where almost the whole flight was empty

s_isale, please tell me what info you are referring to and I will endeavour to get the link you need.

On that point, how do you know about the Heathrow flight - cannot comment personally as have not been on that route that many times but I can tell you about the Manchester route - always chock a block and when I checked in the other day the check in staff said it was rare they ever had spare seats on their twice a day run - one at 9.30am and the other at 2pm - so it would rather beg the question why another carrier is not allowed to do a direct run to Doha. And in addition, Etihad at last Eid were running a promotion from Manchester to ME and Doha and one can only assume they know there is an uptapped market there BUT of course the powers that be would never allow another airline to fly direct to Qatar on a popular route...

When it comes to Over Booking on QA, on Certain Sectors like Manila, New york, Chicago, Kuala Lumpur the flight is Usually over book by 10 to 15 percent because on these routes QA is Code Sharing...

jjj - could you pls share the link from where you got the info?

There are also many a time that there are only 10-15 passengers in the flight from Hethrow to Doha....

s_isale - of course QA have denied them the service - or more to the point the goverment have not allowed them to fly directly here, they have to come by a 3rd country so making it unattractive for customers to use them.

Every time I have been on a flight from Europe/UK to Qatar on QA - the flight has always been FULL and many a time they have chucked people off due to over booking. Take Manchester last year, they had to put on an additional direct service (daily) due to load - so are you telling me there is no room for another carrier to fly directly??? I think there is - what is QA so scared of, a little healthy competition which can only be good for us customers - reduced prices and better service, what is wrong with that?

IT would have more to do with profitability than QA denying them the service....they will have a higher load factor if they take in Dammam/Bahrain along with Doha.

Quite Mike - their belevolance knows no bounds, they were prepared to let BA fly here 25 years ago probably when no other airline wanted to anyway but now they have their own carrier - woe betide letting a little competition get in the way of profits!!!

jjj - why only KLM and BA? isnt there a bilateral agreement between the countries? or did the British and dutch govt prevent their airlines from flying to Doha direct? something is amiss here.

25-30 years ago... hmmmm that's worth taking into consideration!

s_isale, your comment said it all (25 years back), before QA came into existence they would fly direct but QA does not allow such competition.

There are no such reciprocal arrangements with the likes of BA or KLM or any American carrier either and there has not been such since I came here almost 4 years ago. It would be too much like healthy competition.

have the reciprocal arrangements been taken off from KLM and BA? Or are they not trying that option due to load factor. BA used to fly direct 25-30 yrs back. Ask dweller

this is all an extension on their anti other large carriers stealing their customers. QA often charge double for the same route as other airlines - KLM, BA, Airfrance and they can do this because they are the only airline that flies directly to alot of countries - BA has to go via Bahrain, KLM via Dammam etc I would love them to allow reciprocal arrangements ie BA can fly direct to Qatar because they are allowed to fly direct to UK, KLM allowed to fly direct to Amsterdam because QA are allowed to fly direct etc but alas no, that would be too much like fair play to them and we cannot allow that can we!!!

personally!

come now Flor accept your trophy with dignity, it is well deserved!

and in pack! Get a life!

A very worthy recipient not just for this year, but for every year!!!!

Lol Mike

Flor: keep working brother... you really earned it so here it is!

Early on in 2012 and Flor is back on his soap box....get a life Flor, or at least make some friends!

yes or no. Thanks anyway!

A beautiful Airline run by some retards in Qatar. feel sorry

Clearly they can and will monitor online purchases Flor.

That's why the sale was stopped.

Is it really that hard to understand?

can they monitor the online purchase of ticket. Even without a ban or sale or discount officially, online buying also negotiated. A couple of time I got a discount from online booking.

Again, can QCAA monitor online purchases?

Shouldnt the Monopolies Commission be investigating this malpractice?? Oh wait a minute ..................

I think you don't understand what the outrage is all about Flor.

Emirates was BANNED from selling discounted tickets for flights originating in Qatar. Whether you buy them online or from the office, they are not allowed to offer these discounts in the Qatari market.

Goodbye choice.

That's pretty screwed up to me.

buy your ticket on line?

Prism, just to refresh you what I said above, I've been using all the three carriers in my five years stay here. If I travel alone, I use QA since I want to be home FAST. If I travel with my wife and/or daughter, fine to travel either with Etihad or Emirates cause I have a companion on board although on lean season, QA ticket is not that bad so we travel by QA also.

Now if you call it a*se kissing, am I entitled to call you QATAR-HATER?

Thats a fair point Fubar but the thread should be closed now because Flor has said "Move on"....clearly there is nothing more to debate here.

Isn't the point of the thread not about whether or not QA represents good value, but rather how QA and/or QCAA are ganging up on Emirates to stop them offering discounted fares to Qataris?

In which case it isn't really a choice at all - if Qatar prevents you from purchasing discounted fares, how does that give you the CHOICE to buy something cheaper that would have been available if you lived in Oman or UAE or Bahrain or Saudi or probably anywhere else in the world?

can you refresh me, Qatar-haters?

as always flor in ar*e kissing mode...once a while shut off that mode man...feel the freshness of life....it aint taking you anywhere...:((

Is that not what I have just said I am going to do?

so move on!

Chairboy I agree with you. I used to be prepared to pay the little extra to QA to avoid tx. But I too have started to look elsewhere feeling that QA is turning into a rip off. And I feel they are doing very little to benefit the residents of Qatar, or act in the interests of tourism into the country.

In recent times QA have completely lost the plot as far as pricing to destinations East and West is concerned - consequently I personally have chosen to stop using them - hubbing thru Bahrain (Gulf) or the Emirates (2 carriers) saves a considerable amount of money for very little time travelling penalty. Gone are the days where I would rather pay the QA price and avoid the inconvenience of a tx - now it makes financial sense to do the transit. When I'm planning a flight these days, my first port of call is Expedia or Opodo as opposed to QA on line. The fact that sanctions have been imposed against Emirates indicates the QA is running scared - its that insecurity thing again!!

The fact is Emirates won't take Legal Action at all!!!

but matter of the fact is, QA is still getting ample of load to and from Dubai, they are operating 777 and 330s on a sector which should have been used by 320s/321s at the max.

The article in The Peninsula has a great final line:

"But the problem in Qatar is that people don’t like to take resort to the legal system to get a wrong undone and demand justice, said sources."

And why would that be? Because the legal outcome is already going to be whatever the Qatari Sheikhs want it to be?

Lol! Last week, I availed the promo of QA from Dubai to Istanbul for my upcoming trip as it was the cheapest fare I found and the schedule of flight is feasible for me. Hope the GCAA wont cancel the promo of QA as what they've done with Emirates.

When Emirates did not get extra flights to Canada they imposed a cost for Canadian visitors to UAE.. Will UAE do the same to its GCC partner. I guess not!

as pointed out by many legal experts. Now someone should have the balls to take QCAA to the courts. Here is the link for the article in today's The Peninsula.

http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/178022-stopping-airline-offer-against-the-law-expert.html

'But the problem in Qatar is that people don’t like to take resort to the legal system to get a wrong undone and demand justice, said sources.'

We all know that QA is the flag carrier of Qatar,, QCAA made that move to "protect" QA. It is a move made not to be competitive with other airlines., It is somehow a "political" move. Emirates marketing strategy will cause QA a major dropdown on ticket sales. Well,, as we say,, Business as usual!

Pre-approval of what anyways? Sale? Marketing Strategy? Promotional Offer?

what fits your budget and if you think is best for you, go on, that the benefit of competition. I fly all the three airlines, whichever fits my schedule and availability. It's a business move, whether right or wrong, they will have to be responsible with their action. And it was not QA who made the move, it's QCAA.Unless you work with theme and knew all the facts, then let it be!

Now if they force each one of us to fly QA, then that's another story!

I just flew with Emirates,, The price is way cheaper than Qatar Airways,, I saved almost 3000 Riyals! Service is as good as QA, though we had a 3hour delay in Dubai bound for Manila. I prefer Emirates now than QA.

I think QA cannot compete with Emirates price-wise.

Just goes to show what a pathetic bunch (including the CEO) are at Qatar Airways. Scared of some competition.

Qatar Airways to Kenya Nairobi QR 4000 (return). Gulf Air QR 1500 - 1800 (Return)

I simply didn't fly with them for the last 4 years: There are Etihad (favorite) , Turkish Airlines, Egypt Air, FlyDubai

- Turkish & Egypt air are sometimes 2000 QR cheaper !

- Qatar Airways are not flexible

- The Economy treatment is very bad ( food in Turkish is way much better)

- On QAyou have to call fro service 5 times so someone will come to assist you.

- Most of the cabin crew on QAhave this fake smile.

- Promotions most of time unclear on QA

BTW I booked 5 tickets to Dubai just recently for only QR 2000 through QA. Guess why? Fly Dubai and Emirates had much better prices in the past. This is what free market does in our favor.

This sends a message: Qatar Airways is afraid of competition.

BTW flor, QA is violating international statuses by doing it, if Emirates takes legal action this might end up having long-term repercussions against the Qatari flag carrier.

On the other hand, let's not forget that Dubai is the largest hub in the middle east. UAE has got far more travelers than Qatar. If the UAE applies the same "sanction" Qatar would end up losing more money.

"Two wrongs don't make a right" I am really hoping that QA rectifies their attitude.

Sri Lankan airlines to Kuala Lumpur is QR 1500 (Return). Just bought by my collegue.

and decisions that is normal. After all it's the consumers who will decide in the end. There are still many airlines to choose. If they want to, they can also implement that in their own country's flag carrier!

Doubt we'll be going anytime soon but happily for me though my mom will InshAllah be coming to Qatar this April..can't wait to see her after four years!

FathimaH I celebrated xmas 2008 in Sri Lanka and quite enjoyed it. Wanted to go back to visit again. Hopefully this year..:)

The rates are quite cheap this time of the year..sadly though for us, still no chance of a vacation!

Exactly Fathimah.

I heard Sri Lanka Airlines were doing good deals to Colombo and beyond..:)

Insecurity in the face of competition is certainly not in the making of a "world's 5 class airline"

Not affected but was planning to buy tickets from Emirates. I guess Emirates will do the same to QA when they have their SALE?

wonderful....coach,Fendi...etc:-) the new building is lovely.

Love all UAE airlines, Ittihad airways, Emirates, and Fly Dubai.....I always fly with confidence with them.and the R very professional and treat passengers with a great respect.For me I prefer AL-Ittihad among all others.And such things happen all the time.

100 times better than Qatar Airways. Not only QA cannot face real competition, the prices have skyrocketed and plus, I don't see that 5-star service they talk about. Emirates and Ethiad are much better! They also eliminated the code sharing with Alitalia, so prices for Italy have gone quite up....

Agree with you completely Fubar. They can't face the real challenge!!!

awww ... poor Qatar Airways.

Afraid of some competition from a real airline?

According to ICAO ( International Civil Aviation Organization ) Local Authorities cannot block the Sale of Tickets be it of any airline, until that particular airline does not close its operation to that Particular Destination.

Even though QCAA can request Emirates, but its not binding to accept that request.

I fly Emirates regardless (a sale is just a big bonus). I refuse to fly Qatar Air ever again even though it costs me more money and another stopover to avoid them

QATAR AIRWAYS IS AFFECTED BY THE EMIRATES BIG DISCOUNT ON ITS AIRFARE THAT IS WHY THE QATAR CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY STOP THE SALE IN QATAR....

Yes we were affected by this. A flight home was going to be QR3000 less than the usual fare. We only fly Emirates because they offer best schedules, best value, best service for our destination. We are very disappointed at Qatar authorities trying taking action to prevent those of us living in Qatar accessing the Global sale. Shame on your Qatar!