“Mr. Al Baker can say the moon is made of cheese but it won’t change the fact that Qatar Airways has received more than $17 billion in subsidies from its government.”

Jill Zuckman, spokesperson for a coalition of American carriers that have accused Gulf airlines of receiving unfair subsidies from their governments.

Zuckman was responding to Qatar Airways‘ CEO Akbar Al Baker, who called the allegations “sheer (epithet)”, according to the Los Angeles Times.