The United Arab Emirates (UAE) says it has filed a complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) against Qatar after it claimed two of its commercial aircraft were intercepted by Qatar Air Force fighter jets while en-route to Bahrain International this week.

"Today we will file our complaint to the International Civil Aviation Organisation about the two serious incidents, along with the evidence that we've gathered, and ask for the intervention of the council to stop Qatar from repeating the act," Saif al-Suwaidi, the head of the UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), told the AFP in a statement.

Bahrain's Civil Aviation Affairs (BCAA) department later identified the affected flights as Emirates flight EK837 and Etihad Airways flight EY23B (EY371).

Qatar has since denied any such events occurred adding that the UAE's allegations came after Qatar accused United Arab Emirates Air Force fighter jets of violating its airspace in December and January, most recently on Sunday, January 14. According to Al Jazeera, Qatar has already written to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, stating that the UAE's entry into its airspace was "a flagrant violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity".

Qatar has been under a physical and economic blockade by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt since June last year. The bloc collectively accuse Qatar of siding with regional rival Iran and of supporting terrorism, accusations Doha has rejected.