Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: The UAE has filed an official complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) against Qatar, following a group of incidents in which Qatari jets intercepted Emirati civilian airplanes.

“The UAE had filed a detailed complaint as per Article No. 54 of the Chicago Convention, which takes into account the national interests of member states of the ICAO,” director-general of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi told Emirates News Agency (WAM). 

The ICAO will set the date for the investigation of the complaint, Al Suwaidi added.

“These aggressive actions by Qatar against UAE civilian aircraft are considered as deliberate violations of international covenants and conventions governing civil aviation,” the GCAA’s director general commented.

The top official further added that "provocations are unjustified", noting that they put the lives of the jets’ passengers at risk.

In March, the Bahraini Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) stated that a private UAE Airbus A320 flying from Fujairah to Rome was forced to change its path, threatened by Qatari military aircraft.

Al Suwaidi stressed earlier that the UAE did not plan to change its civilian flight paths as a result of the air incident in Bahrain.