For the ordinary citizen, a fractured limb around the holidays means a lengthy wait in the emergency room. For the Qatari royal family, it means an emergency medical visit to Switzerland.
According to Qatari authorities, 63-year-old Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the country’s former ruler, broke his leg on Christmas Day and was flown to Zurich for emergency surgery. The royal family had reportedly been on holiday in Morocco, staying at a resort in the Atlas Mountains.
"The emergency landing clearance was given by the Swiss Air Force," a spokesman for Switzerland’s federal office of civil aviation confirmed to Agence France-Presse.
Ordinarily, Zurich-Kloten Airport forbids nighttime takeoffs and departures, which disturb residents in the area. An exception was of course made for Sheikh Hamad, and his Airbus landed shortly after midnight.
If residents were awoken by the sheik’s private jet screaming through the sky, they were disturbed again just five hours later, as a second plane was granted permission to land shortly after 5 AM, and a third plane arriving only 15 minutes later. Both of these aircraft traveled directly from Doha.
Over the weekend, six more airplanes linked to the Qatari royal family and government landed in Zurich to attend to the sheikh.
Only two weeks after the conclusion of the Paris climate talks, launching a fleet of carbon-spewing fuel-guzzlers because of one broken leg seems a tad excessive, but appears to have had the desired effect.
"Following a successful operation, his Highness the Father Emir is currently in Zurich recovering and undergoing physiotherapy treatment," reads a Qatari government statement, according to the Telegraph.
Sheikh Hamad ruled Qatar from 1995 to 2013, abdicating in favor of his son, 35-year-old Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who currently rules the gulf nation.
"For anyone who’s asking about the father Emir, he’s good and well, praise God," said the sheikh’s son, according to the Telegraph. Gratitude toward one’s religion is never bad, but nine jets of sycophants gets the job done on the ground.
