The allegations made by the General Authority of Civil Aviation of the United Arab Emirates regarding the interception of UAE civilian aircraft by Qatari fighter jets are totally baseless.
In a statement issued yesterday, HE the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lulua al-Khater said the allegation comes one day after a C-130 UAE military aircraft breached Qatari airspace at 3.10pm (Doha local time), a violation for which Qatar intends to take legal action.
“It appears that the UAE Civil Aviation Authority is trying, through false allegations, to overshadow the news of a UAE military aircraft breaching Qatari airspace,” she added.
The Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson added that it also seemed that the UAE was trying to draw attention away from other incidents that have caused media crises for them in the last two days.
“This systematic attack, through the media, comes after Qatar has delivered letters to both the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the United Nations Security Council regarding two breaches by two UAE military aircraft of Qatar’s airspace,” she said.
HE al-Khater added that the first breach occurred on December 21, 2017 by a fighter jet belonging to the UAE, while the second took place on January 3, 2018 by a UAE military airlift.
“The fabrication of news is not new to the UAE media’s dealing with Qatar since the beginning of the Gulf crisis, which started with hacking the website of Qatar News Agency in May 2017,” the spokesperson said, adding that Qatar affirms the Qatari Emiri Air Force’s adherence to the highest standards of aviation safety and its firm position to ensure the safety of Qatar’s civilians. 
Confirming Qatar’s official stance, Lt. Col. Damien Pickart, spokesman for US Air Force Central Command based at Al Udeid airbase said they also did not immediately have any report about any incident involving a commercial aircraft in the region.
Qatar filed a new complaint with the United Nations, reporting a second violation of its airspace by United Arab Emirates (UAE) after a “military airlift”, which was travelling from the UAE to Bahrain, entered the airspace of Qatar on the morning of January 3 “without prior authorisation”.
Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif al-Thani, Qatar’s UN representative, submitted a letter of complaint to Antonio Guterres, the organisation’s secretary-general, in light of UAE’s repeated infringement upon Qatar’s sovereignty.
The move follows Sheikha Alia Ahmed’s sending of a separate letter to Guterres on Thursday (January 11) in relation to a prior violation of Qatar’s airspace by the UAE on December 21 of last year.

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