Cairo, Egypt— Qatar and Egypt have discussed enhancing ties in the field of civil aviation between the two countries.
In this connection, the civil aviation officials from the two countries held talks in Cairo to boost the cooperation.
Mohamed bin Faleh Al Hajri, in charge of managing Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA), chaired the Qatari side, while the Egyptian side was led by President of the Egypt’s Civil Aviation Authority Pilot Amr El Sharkawy.
During the talks, a memorandum of understanding was signed to increase air transport rights to Cairo International Airport. This will facilitate the opening of new avenues of cooperation in the field of air transport between the two countries, positively impacting overall economic, investment, and trade exchange between them.
The two sides also discussed ways to enhance cooperation in the field of civil aviation, in addition to several matters of mutual interest.
Some two years back, Egypt reopened its airspace to Qatari aircraft, ending a three and a half year airspace ban on Qatar.
The decision to the lift airspace ban on Qatar allowed Egypt’s flag carrier EgyptAir and Qatar Airways to operate flights between the two countries, as well as the exchange flight schedules between the Egyptian and Qatari civil authorities for approval.
The decision came a week after Egypt signed the Al-Ula agreement for Arab reconciliation with Qatar, which ended a diplomatic and travel boycott by the Arab quartet – Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain – on Doha since mid 2017.
The quartet cut diplomatic, economic and travel ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing Doha of interfering in their internal affairs and supporting terrorist groups, charges denied by Qatar.