Tag: Doha

  • 12 injured as Qatar Airways flight hits turbulence

    12 injured as Qatar Airways flight hits turbulence

    Six crew members and six passengers travelling on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Dublin suffered injuries during a severe bout of turbulence on Sunday.

    However, the flight landed safely and as scheduled, according to officials at the Dublin Airport.

    “Upon landing, the aircraft was met by emergency services, including airport police and our fire and rescue department, due to six passengers and six crew [12 total] on board reporting injuries after the aircraft experienced turbulence while airborne over Turkiye,” the airport authorities explained in a statement.

    NBC News talked to the passengers arriving at the airport and described the incident as frightening. “Just food all over the plane, on the ceiling, everywhere,” one of the passengers said.

    Qatar Airways said in a statement that a “small number” of passengers and crew sustained minor injuries during the flight and were receiving medical attention.

    The airline did not directly comment on the turbulence.”The matter is now subject to an internal investigation,” the statement read.

    The incident happened nearly a week after a Singapore Airlines flight from Heathrow Airport hit severe turbulence over the Indian Ocean leaving one passenger dead and 20 others injured.

    Scientists blame climate change for increased air turbulence incidents.

  • Taliban refuse to let women work and go to school

    Afghan Taliban have once again rejected international calls to lift the ban they imposed on women’s work and education, after the United Nations sanctions committee concluded in Doha without formally recognising the administration in Afghanistan.

    Suhail Shaheen, head of the Taliban political office in Doha pointed out that the meeting’s decisions cannot be accepted or implemented when the government in Afghanistan is not part of the process.

    In a meeting where over 20 countries’ representatives were present, the Taliban administration was not invited.

    When asked by a journalist if there will ever be a situation when he will meet the Taliban directly, UN Chief António Guterres said: “If the time is right, I will not deny the possibility.”

    Afghan Foreign Minister (FM) Amir Khan Muttaqi will reportedly visit Pakistan in a couple of days.

  • Ticket sales for FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar are nearing 3 million: Infantino

    Ticket sales for FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar are nearing 3 million: Infantino

    Ticket sales for the FIFA World Cup are nearing three million ahead of the tournament’s start in Qatar on November 20, according to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and event organisers on Monday.

    According to Brecorder, Qatar, the United States, and Saudi Arabia were the top three purchasing countries among the 2.89 million tickets sold, according to World Cup Chief Operating Officer Colin Smith at a news conference in Doha.

    Infantino said in a video address to the conference that 240,000 hospitality packages for the month-long tournament, the first in a Middle Eastern country, had been sold.

    Qatar, the smallest country to host soccer’s global showpiece tournament, expects an estimated 1.2 million visitors during the World Cup. Due to limited accommodation in Qatar, thousands of fans are expected to stay in neighbouring countries for matches.

    Yasir Al Jamal, the director general of Qatar’s World Cup organising committee, told a news conference that 2 million room nights had been sold and that Qatar had added an additional 30,000 rooms to accommodate last-minute ticket sales.

    Soccer teams, their support staff, and World Cup officials will occupy many hotel rooms in Doha. Japan will be the first team to arrive at the tournament on November 7, according to Smith.

  • Economic crisis: Finance minister in Doha to hold talks with IMF

    Economic crisis: Finance minister in Doha to hold talks with IMF

    Finance Minister Miftah Ismail along with his team left for Doha on Tuesday to hold talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    The ministry said that talks with the IMF mission started today (May 18).

    The review talks are expected to continue for a week and will focus on striking a staff-level agreement for the release of a $1 billion tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

    It has been reported that Pakistan will have to convince the IMF to revive the stalled $6 billion programme at a time when the government had not started eliminating the unfunded fuel subsidy after making a commitment with the forum.

    The dollar rate is at its peak in the country. Currently, the rupee touched 200 against the US dollar in the open market. This spell of the dollar’s persistent rise against the rupee began last week.

  • 15 lakhs goes missing from passenger’s carry-on on flight from Karachi

    15 lakhs goes missing from passenger’s carry-on on flight from Karachi

    A Pakistani-born United States (US) citizen— Imtiaz Rafiq— lost his cash worth $8,000 (1,514,256) while travelling to Houston from Jinnah International Airport, Karachi via Doha on Qatar Airways reports Geo News.

    As per the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the money went missing from Rafiq’s backpack. He claimed that at Doha airport he checked his bag and realised the cash was gone.

    He has registered a complaint and asked for an investigation into the incident.

    According to Rafiq, he doubts that the money was stolen in Karachi as he had removed his backpack from his shoulders twice at the Karachi airport and found the cash in the backpack. He believes it likely happened during the flight from Karachi to Doha.

  • Woman caught smuggling dollars at Karachi airport

    The Customs officials on Wednesday claimed to have foiled a foreign currency smuggling bid at Jinnah International Airport Karachi.

    The officials claimed that 65,000 US dollars (around Rs12 million) were recovered from the baggage of a woman passenger who was travelling to Doha.

    The officials said the currency was seized and the passenger was allowed to board the flight.

    In Jan 2022, a money laundering bid was foiled at Jinnah International Airport Karachi after siblings were apprehended with a huge amount of foreign currency worth over Rs120 million.

  • Flight from Delhi makes emergency landing in Karachi

    Flight from Delhi makes emergency landing in Karachi

    Qatar Airways flight, QR-579, made an emergency landing at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport on Monday. The flight was on the way to Doha from New Delhi.

    Smoke filled one of the cabins of the Airbus 150.

    According to Geo News, the plane was at a height of 40,000 feet when the fault occurred near Karachi. The flight was circling around for a while when it was decided to make an emergency landing at Jinnah International Airport.

    Other flights including Air Lanka’s UL-183 were delayed, which were supposed to land in Karachi due to emergency circumstances. Qatar Airways flight was made to land on Runway No 1 of the airport. Passengers were shifted to a transit lounge.

    Currently, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) engineers are inspecting the plane.

  • Pakistan’s Ahsan Ramzan wins the title of IBSF World Snooker Championship

    Pakistan’s Ahsan Ramzan has won the title of the IBSF World Snooker Championship which was held in Doha, Qatar. He defeated Iranian player, Amir Sarkhos.

    Ahsan, 16, becomes the youngest snooker player from Pakistan to win the title after Muhammad Asif, who won the title in 2012 and 2019 while veteran Mohammad Yousuf won the title of the World Snooker Championship in 1994.

    In the final match, Ramzan was leading the game with 2-0. He scored 63-60 and 91-0 in the first two frames. However, Amir Sarkhos won the four frames consecutively to put more pressure on Ramzan. Amir led with 2-4 in the game after 6 frames.

    Ahsan Ramzan was emotional after winning the final and his senior Mohammad Asif lifted him on his shoulders.

    Pakistan has won the IBSF World Snooker Championship for the fourth time.

    While talking to the media, Ahsan Ramzan expressed his joy. “I started playing snooker at the age of 6 or 7. It wasn’t an easy sail for me to get out of my home first to the streets of my vicinity, then to main roads of my city, and then play provincial and national championship before qualifying to get here.”

    He also highlighted his journey of struggle and thanked all his family, friends, and seniors for their unconditional support.

    “People usually see just one player on a snooker table, but there’s a long struggle and journey behind that one player,” he added.

    Ahsan Ramzan requested the Pakistani government and society to treat cueists with respect as they give to cricketers.

    “I wish that when I go back home, I also get the heroic welcome that any other world champion would receive, it is my wish that we — snooker players — also get the same treatment from the society that our cricketers receive from them.”

    “I want the government to support snooker; I want society to support snooker.”

    Ahsan Ramzan defeated world defending champion, Mohammad Asif, who is also a Pakistani, to reach the final.

  • Getting direct with Australia: PIA to fly directly down under for the first time

    Getting direct with Australia: PIA to fly directly down under for the first time

    The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has announced plans to launch two weekly flights to Australia, cutting travel time to and from the country by around one-third, The News reports.

    PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez says that if it (flights to Australia by a Pakistani carrier) happens, it would be happening for the first time.  He said that PIA has conducted a feasibility study, which concluded that it would be beneficial to the airline.

    PIA intends to operate two weekly flights from Karachi and Lahore to Sydney at first. Later, it might also include Islamabad.

    Flights might commence in late March or early April, according to the national carrier. The airline, however, has yet to receive authorisation from the Australian aviation authority.

    Direct flights would shorten a traveler’s flight duration to 12:30 hours and 13 hours, if one is going to Australia or coming to Pakistan respectively.

    Because there are no direct flights between Pakistan and Australia, passengers must travel for 34 to 35 hours with stopovers, which adds to their travel time.

    “Every airline must touch their hub before flying on to their destination,” stated Nadeem Sharif, Chairman of the Travel Agents Association of Pakistan (TAAP). “There may be eight-hour layovers or even overnight stays, which adds to the travel time.”

    He added that, for example, if a person travelling to Australia via Qatar Airways from Pakistan, he or she must first fly to Doha, Qatar Airways’ hub, and then be carried to Australia from there. Similarly, when a person travels from Australia to Pakistan, the same thing happens.

    PIA’s fleet is expected to grow from the current 29 to 49 by 2026, comprising 16 wide body, 27 narrow body and 6 turbo propeller aircraft. PIA’s share price increased by 1.24 percent on Tuesday to Rs4.09.

  • New Zealand denies re-entry of pregnant national, Taliban offers refuge

    New Zealand denies re-entry of pregnant national, Taliban offers refuge

    A former Al Jazeera pregnant journalist, Charlotte Bellis, who is a New Zealand national, was denied re-entry by her home country on the basis of strict Covid-19 protocol. She was offered refuge by the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

    While speaking to Radio New Zealand(RNZ) from Kabul, she said, “This just feels like such a breach of trust.”

    Bellis said that the Taliban told her, “We’re happy for you, you can come and you won’t have a problem”.

    She did not get to know about her pregnancy until she returned back to the Al-Jazeera headquarter in Doha, Qatar.

    She kept quiet about her pregnancy as it is unlawful to conceive a baby out of wedlock in Qatar.

    She left Al Jazeera in November 2021 while working in Afghanistan as a journalist and went to Belgium, the home country of her partner, Jim Huylebroek. As Bellis is not a resident of a country, she could not stay for a longer period.

    She was left with only one option: to travel to Afghanistan with her partner as they had visas. She is currently in Afghanistan.

    Meanwhile, she started her preparation to return back to New Zealand.

    Her application was rejected by authorities in New Zealand for an emergency return.

    New Zealand’s Covid-19 response minister, Chris Hipkins, said on Monday, “I understand she wanted to return on a specific date and that officials reached out to her for more information shortly after looking at her application. The emergency allocation criteria includes a requirement to travel to New Zealand within the next 14 days. Ms Bellis indicated she did not intend to travel until the end of February and has been encouraged by MIQ (Managed isolation and quarantine) to consider moving her plans forward.”

    Bellis applied for a MIQ option through the medical treatment pathway however authority asked her to sign up under the different category where its nationals are in a location that is under serious risk to their safety, she told to RNZ.

    Currently, she is in contact with officials in New Zealand who claimed her rejected application is under review now.

    The New Zealand government has closed down its borders after the emergence of the omicron variant, including for its nationals who want to return back to the country except for special circumstances.