The UAE Civil Aviation Authority said the two Emirati airliners encountered the jets from Qatar, which lies between the UAE and Bahrain, while en route to Bahrain.
It condemned the Qatari action as “a serious and renewed breach of international conventions and the safety of civil aircraft traffic”. The incidents allegedly occurred 30 minutes apart, at 10.30am and 11am.
The Bahraini state news agency BNA said the first flight was from Emirates, which is owned by the Dubai government, but gave no details on the second flight.
Sheikh Saif Bin Ahmed al-Thani, director of Qatar’s government communications office, said on his official Twitter account that the first UAE charge, made earlier on Monday, was “completely untrue”. However, there was no immediate official comment on the veracity of the second incident.
On Friday, Qatar filed a complaint with the United Nations about an alleged violation of its air space in December by an Emirati military aircraft. Qatari authorities said the violation on December 21, which the UAE denied, lasted one minute.
The incident follows the claims of Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani, a member of Qatar’s royal family, that he was being detained in the UAE. The claim was denied by Emirati officials on Sunday. In a video posted online, Abdullah, who is seen in some quarters as a possible challenger to Qatari leader Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, said: “I am now in Abu Dhabi, where I was a guest of (UAE crown prince) Sheikh Mohammed’ bin Zayed al-Nahyan. That is no longer the case. I am now detained.
“I want to make clear that the people of Qatar are innocent. Sheikh Mohammed bears full responsibility for anything that happens to me.”
However, Ali Rashed al-Nuaimi, who heads the UAE’s Hedayda counter-extremism centre, tweeted that Sheikh Abdullah had asked to stay in the UAE “for his own safety”.
Al-Nuaimi said: “For the record, a trusted source confirmed that Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani is free to leave the United Arab Emirates as he likes and to whatever destination he likes.”
Nevertheless, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Lulwa al-Khater said: “The state of Qatar observes the situation closely, and due to the total severance of ties with the UAE it is difficult to clearly establish the circumstances surrounding the situation.
“Despite that, the State of Qatar principally stands with the protection of rights for every individual and affirms the entitlement of his family to pursue all legal means for the protection of his rights.”
Mrs Rashed al-Khater said Qatar planned to take legal action against the UAE over the incidents.
“It seems that the Civil Aviation Authority in the UAE, by publishing false claims, is trying to pre-empt events and cover over news of the Emirati plane penetration of Qatari airspace.”
The incident is the latest chapter in a row which has engulfed the region, with Qatar at loggerheads with four other Gulf Arab nations, including the UAE, in recent months. Along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, the UAE imposed travel, diplomatic and trade sanctions on Qatar in June 2017, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism – accusations Qatar denies.
All four countries banned Qatari aircraft from their air space – although Doha did not reciprocate with a ban of its own.