Qatar Airways, the national airline of the state of Qatar, moved to its new home at Hamad International Airport (IATA: DOH ; ICAO: OTHH) at 9am today Doha time. No more bus ride transfers between the aircraft and airport terminals.
HIA offers a new home for Qatar Airways that befits its five-start experience with 108 check in counters for Qatar Airways Economy passengers (Rows 3, 4 and 5), 16 check in counters for Business Class passengers (Row 2) and 14 luxury seated check-in counters for First Class passengers (Row 1). HIA can handle 8,700 customer per hour providing a seamless, hassle free experience from check-in to passport control and boarding.
There are over 40,000 square metres of combined retail, food and beverage facilities. Qatar Duty Free at HIA offers more than 70 retail outlets. There are more than 30 cafes and restaurants offering a selection of global and local cuisine.
Hamad International Airport officially opened on 30 April 2014 and is located on the East coast of the peninsula which is 16km from the centre of Doha and 4km from Doha International Airport. It takes an estimated 25 minutes by car to get to downtown Doha from DOH.
The new airport can handle 29 million annual passengers now which is three times the capacity of the current airport. Upon completion, it will be able to handle 50 million passengers. It is expected to handle 320,000 aircraft movements and 2 million tonnes of cargo annually. When Hamad International Airport opened on 30 April this year, ten airlines started using the new facilities. Hamad International Airport will serve the following airlines. Air Arabia, Air India Express, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, EgyptAir, Emirates, Etihad Airways, flydubai, Gulf Air, Iran Air, Iran Aseman Airlines, Jet Airways, KLM, Kuwait Airways, Lufthansa, Middle East Airlines, Nepal Airlines, Oman Air, Pakistan International Airlines, Pegaus Airlines, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Saudia, Sri Lankan Airlines, Syrian Air, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines, United Airways and Yemenia. The airport has two parallel runways which are designed for simultaneous take-offs and landings.
Qatar Airways is in its 17th year of operations and has a fleet of 134 aircraft serving 140 key business and leisure destinations across six continents. The airline joined the oneworld Alliance on 30 October 2013 becoming the first Gulf carrier to join a global airline alliance.
