Qatar Airways has announced that it may quit the Oneworld alliance next February, blaming American Airlines and Qantas of antagonizing activities. 

Asian Review reported. 

Although Qatar Airways has been subject to a boycott by its Gulf neighbors since 2017, the state-owned airline has continued to expand. It has opened routes in Asia to 13 cities in India, five in China and seven in Pakistan, five in Australia, four in Thailand and three in Vietnam, among other destinations. It also owns a 9.99% stake in Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific Airways.

A Qatari exit from the Oneworld alliance, which it joined in 2013, would mean that Asian travelers using other members' loyalty programs, such as JAL's Mileage Bank or Qantas Frequent Flyer, would no longer be able credit miles flown with Qatar Airways to their accounts. Alliances such as Oneworld also enable member carriers to sell seats on the same flights, known as code-sharing, or coordinate schedules to facilitate passenger transfers.

Akbar Al Baker, the chief executive of Qatar Airways, said in a group interview on the sidelines of the Doha Forum that he was "not happy" that some Oneworld alliance members did not want to do business with his airline.

He accused American Airlines of "constantly trying to impede our investments and our strategic partnerships" and cited the carrier's cancellation earlier this year of a code-share arrangement with Qatar.

The two carriers have been clashing for years, with American accusing Qatar of receiving illegal state aid, a charge the Gulf airline denies. In 2017, Qatar attempted to buy a 10% stake in American but subsequently dropped the plan after the U.S. airline's CEO Doug Parker said in a memo to employees he was "not particularly excited about Qatar's outreach," mentioning "illegal subsidies."

Al Baker also attacked Australian airline Qantas in the Doha interview for doing business with Emirates, Qatar's far bigger Gulf rival, based in Dubai. Qantas has a code-sharing agreement with Emirates and has been lobbying the Canberra government against allowing Qatar to add a sixth Australian route to its network, complaining of unfair competition. The Australian carrier sent politicians a letter last month citing U.S. research that said Qatar Airways had received $17 billion in state aid and interest-free loans from the Qatari government and its sovereign wealth fund, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.