Foreign relations of Qatar intention was to help start bilateral negotiations and solve the territorial dispute which had turned violent. Qatar withdrew its 450 troops from the Djibouti-Eritrea border in June 2017 after the two countries severed ties with Qatar. In a controversial bidding process marred by bribery and corruption scandals, Qatar was selected to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Qatar will be the first Middle Eastern country to host the popular international sporting event. Qatar-funded Qatar Airways has gone on an aggressive expansion campaign by competing with nearby Emirates Airline to reach more destinations and serve more passengers. The sixty-sixth session of
Emirates fleet 1985 to 1987. The planned phaseout of Emirates' older large Airbus widebodies started in February 2011, starting with the retirement of two Airbus A330-200s from its fleet. The last Airbus A340-500 was withdrawn from service on 31 March 2016 after operating a final flight from Kabul to Dubai. The first Boeing 777-300ER (registration A6-EBD) was withdrawn from use on 27 March 2017 after performing its final flight for Emirates as EK724 from Addis Ababa, and is now leased by ALC to VIM Airlines with registration VP-BIN. Emirates does plan to retire their older 777-300ER airframes in 2017. Emirates intends to