Etihad flying to Doha now-rivalry over?

 Etihad is now flying to Doha. Few years ago UAE had blamed Qatar as terrorist state, banned Qatar airways from using UAE airspace and lots of drama had happened.

Looks like now the things are sorted. I see Etihad airways offering flights to Doha via Abu Dhabi

Similarly flybubai and Qatar are flying between Doha and Dubai (DXB)

This also means Qatar can fly over Egypt or other middle east countries and flight time to US could be shorter.

More details on Wikipedia here. I think I just noticed it 6 months late.

Good to know...

Fly to Maldives-direct flight more expensive than 1 stop

I was checking prices for Maldives. From Bengaluru, 1 stop flights cost about 14-15k return. Spicejet via Kochi and GoAir via Mumbai. 

Naturally next instinct was to check if it is cheaper to fly from Mumbai or Kochi instead. Surprisingly the direct flights cost more than one stop flight for same day.

Goair charges 6k more if you are flying 5 hours lesser and Spicejet charges 2.5 k more if you are flying from COK instead of BLR-via COK.

Clearly airline pricing is a game of demand and supply and competition, not a function of fuel cost or other sensible parameters. Driving factor here is Indigo having a 15k ticket from BLR to Male direct. So spicejet and GoAir are trying to beat it, by offering lesser fare for their one stop flights to Maldives from Bengaluru..

Related: Maldives guide *