CANBERRA: Australian Transport Minister Catherine King stated on Thursday( Sept. 7 ) that she refused to permit Qatar Airways to double its services to Australia because of intrusive gynecological examinations she conducted on passengers at Doha’s international airport in 2020.
King has been heavily questioned about her decision to forbid the flight from increasing its present 28 weekly flights to Australia on June 10.
She claimed that the choice was made under the” framework” of women being questioned by regulators at Hamad International Airport in Doha in 2020 as they searched for the mother of a newborn baby who had been discovered dumped in garbage.
People were invasively examined on several airlines leaving Doha, including 13 on a trip to Sydney.
King told writers,” There isn’t a single thing that I would point to that influenced my choice in one approach or the other.”
For context, she added,” This is the only airline to have experienced something similar where that has occurred.”
” I wasn’t unaware of it, so it’s clear that it related to the choice I made. However, this choice was not influenced by any one thing. She continued.
Requests for comment were not promptly answered by Qatar Airways or the Bangladeshi government.