Qatar airport wears deserted look amid Gulf tensions
The information screens at the airport show majority of the flights to be cancelled.
(Web Desk) - After the diplomatic and trade boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, Qatar s Hamad International Airport wears a deserted look. According to reports in foreign media reports, Qatar Airport has lost the hustle and bustle it generally had and has become eerily secluded.
According to websites related to tourism and air travel, the machines at the security points at the airport have been switched off. There were no crowds at departure and arrival lounges. The information screens showed majority of the flights on them to be cancelled.
The airport, built at a cost of $16 billion in 2014, has never seen a time when it witnessed such a lack of activity. But the recent Gulf tensions have made the massive 22 square kilometre airport strangely quite.
Travel blogger, The Points Guy, has documented the empty terminals and signboards depicting cancelled flights at the Hamad International Airport. Here are his pictures:
Read more: Seven states cut ties with Qatar in major diplomatic crisis
According to AFP, Katie, a passenger en route to Thailand via Qatar, said that this was the emptiest airport she had ever been to. "It s exceptionally quiet, almost eerie," she said.
A civil engineer travelling home to New Delhi said, "I have never seen anything like this. It s crazy. I hope the crisis will finish soon."
Moreover, because Saudi Arabia has revoked the license of Qatar Airways, travelers that had plans to travel through the carrier are facing problems. Last week, frantic scenes were witnessed at Qatar Airways offices as passengers holding tickets for the carrier s flights and intending to travel through Saudi Arabia scrambled to return tickets that had been rendered useless by the recent tensions.
On 5th June, the Gulf region plunged into a diplomatic crisis as Arab nations including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut off ties with Qatar. Qatari diplomats were ejected while Qatari residents were given two weeks by these countries to leave. The reason given for this move was Qatar s support of terrorism and its hand in destabilising the region. Analysts claimed that Qatar s support of the Muslim Brotherhood and its tolerance of Iran were the reason why Saudi Arabia and its allies cut off ties with Qatar.
Read more: Why Qatar has invited the wrath of its neighbours?
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