Expanded HIA will be a destination for passengers of future: QA chief

WE ARE BUILDING SOMETHING REALLY OUT OF THIS WORLD: AL BAKER

QATAR is pressing ahead with the Hamad International Airport (HIA) expansion to achieve a capacity to handle more than 55 million passengers ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022.

“We are building something really out of this world. We are expanding a huge area of the western runway. We are also building the north node of the Hamad International Airport, which will increase the capacity to over 55 million passengers,” Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said at the Moodie Davitt Virtual Travel Retail Expo 2020.

“June 2022 onwards, when the expansions are ready, giving us enough time to prepare the new areas to open its doors to travellers and visitors before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.”

The airport’s expansion, which has been in place since the fourth quarter of 2019, is being carried out in two phases. The first phase includes linking the North Node to the new Central Concourse. This phase of the airport’s expansion is set to increase the terminal’s annual handling capacity to over 55 million passengers by 2022, when Qatar hosts the FIFA World Cup.

Immediately after the world cup — from January 2023, Baker said, the HIA would undergo the final expansion.

The expansion in the later phase would take the airport’s capacity to more than 65 million passengers annually.

“We are also hoping that this will be a huge showcase not only for my country but (also) making Hamad International Airport a destination for passengers of the future.”

The Qatar Airways chief said the airline is responsible for the total passenger experience. “We are responsible for total passenger experience -- on the ground, in the air and of course when it comes to shop. We control the price, we make sure that we meet the standards that our passengers want. We are also making sure that we have the diversity of products that we want for every kind of passengers.”

We are expanding a huge area of the western runway. We are also building the north node of the Hamad International Airport, which will increase the capacity to over 55 million passengers.”

— Akbar Al Baker