Doha International Airport
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Doha International Airport ( ar, مطار الدوحة الدولي) is an
airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
in
Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
,
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
. It was Qatar's commercial
international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
until
Hamad International Airport Hamad International Airport ( ar, مطار حمد الدولي, ') is an international airport in the State of Qatar, and the home of Qatar’s flag carrier airline, Qatar Airways. Located east of its capital, Doha, it replaced the nearby Doha ...
opened on 27 May 2014. While all scheduled commercial traffic ceased, the airport site and existing runway is still used by
Qatar Emiri Air Force The Qatar Emiri Air Force ( ar, القوات الجوية الأميرية القطرية , Al-Quwwat Al-Jawiyah Al-Amiriyah Al-Qatariyah) (QEAF) is the air arm of the Qatar Armed Forces, armed forces of the state of Qatar. It was established in ...
,
Qatar Amiri Flight Qatar Amiri Flight is a VIP airline owned and operated by the government of Qatar. It operates worldwide charters on demand and caters exclusively to the royal family of Qatar and other VIP government staff. The vast majority of its fleet is paint ...
, Rizon Jet,
Gulf Helicopters Gulf Helicopters is a helicopter services provider mainly servicing the oil and gas industry in Middle East, Yemen, North Africa and India. It is a 100% subsidiary of Gulf International Services under the QatarEnergy umbrella, and has its headqua ...
and Qatar Aeronautical College. It also acts as a state/diplomatic airport catering to both Qatar Amiri Flight (which is based at the airport) and state visit flights. The airport welcomed commercial flights again on 15 September 2022 for selected airlines to handle increased traffic for the
2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...
taking place in the country in November.


History

Doha International Airport opened in 1959 replacing Dukhan Airport, which was built in the 1930s and located west of Doha. The airport suffered from overutilization, even though it had been expanded numerous times. Before the opening of the new airport, the capacity stood at 12 million passengers per year. Its
runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
was one of the longest at a civil airport. It was the main base of
Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. ( ar, القطرية, ''al-Qaṭariya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke netw ...
. In the past, the airport was mostly used by Qatari holiday makers and foreign workers coming for the oil and gas sector. As Qatar Airways expanded rapidly, the airport grew and attracted more people such as holiday makers and transit travelers. In 2010, it was the world's 27th busiest airport by cargo traffic. The control tower and ancillary buildings were designed by
Curtis W. Fentress Curtis Fentress (born 1947) is an American architect. He is currently the principal-in-charge of design at Fentress Architects, an international design studio he founded in Denver, Colorado in 1980. Fentress' work on Denver International Airpo ...
, FAIA, RIBA of
Fentress Architects Fentress Architects is an international design firm known for large-scale public architecture such as airports, museums, university buildings, convention centers, laboratories, and high-rise office towers. Some of the buildings for which the fi ...
. All scheduled commercial air traffic serving this airport moved to the new
Hamad International Airport Hamad International Airport ( ar, مطار حمد الدولي, ') is an international airport in the State of Qatar, and the home of Qatar’s flag carrier airline, Qatar Airways. Located east of its capital, Doha, it replaced the nearby Doha ...
on 27 May 2014. The new airport is located east of the former facility. It covers of land and was able to handle 29 million passengers per year on opening day. The old airport was riginallyplanned to be demolished, but it has been refurbished and reopened for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.


Terminals


Departure and Transfer Terminal

This was the main terminal at Doha and handled all economy class Qatar Airways flights, as well as all other airlines using the airport. This terminal was expanded several times in order to cope with the increasing number of passengers using the airport each year. The terminal had 44 satellite gates, as well as seating areas and a large duty-free area. There were 3 lounges in this terminal, including the Oryx Lounge, which was used by all foreign airlines' premium passengers, the Qatar Airways Gold Lounge, which was used by Qatar Airways Gold Privilege Club members, and the Qatar Airways Silver Lounge, used by Qatar Airways silver privilege club card holders. This terminal had been expanded as the old Arrivals Terminal was integrated into the departures terminal, while a new arrival terminal was opened. All departing and transferring passengers used this facility, as passengers arriving into Doha used the new Arrivals Terminal. The Departure and Transfer Terminal opened an additional 12 boarding positions located between the terminal and the Premium Terminal gates, as well as a revamped Oryx lounge to cater for the increase in passenger numbers. The passenger facilities featured 60 check-in counters, 42 parking bays for aircraft and 15 baggage claim belts.


Terminal A

Terminal A of the Departure and Transfer Terminal was the check-in area used by the airport's biggest user,
Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. ( ar, القطرية, ''al-Qaṭariya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke netw ...
, as well as
Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have sc ...
, which operated a codeshare with Qatar Airways to Hong Kong under a strategic partnership agreement.


Terminal B

In June 2011, Terminal B, built on the location of the former arrivals terminal at Doha International Airport, was dedicated to more than 30 foreign airlines operating services from Doha. The terminal included an enlarged check-in area with 35 counters and a new
baggage handling system A baggage handling system (BHS) is a type of conveyor system installed in airports that transports checked luggage from ticket counters to areas where the bags can be loaded onto airplanes. A BHS also transports checked baggage coming from airplan ...
, as well as food outlets. All foreign airlines were moved to Terminal B. All terminals have been renovated recently and will be operational by the end 2021 or early to mid-2022 for the FIFA football World Cup that will be held in Qatar.


Arrivals Terminal

On 19 December 2010, a new Arrival Terminal was opened in the western apron, in the site of the former Asian Games (which Doha hosted in 2006) temporary terminal. The terminal had a capacity of 2,770 passengers per hour. The Arrivals Terminal replaced the arrivals hall of what became the Departure and Transfer Terminal. The Arrivals Terminal had 22 immigration counters, eight e-gates, eight baggage carousels, 36 concierge desks for hotel transfers, car rental and other services, as well as 746 parking spaces. The former arrivals hall was merged with the departing hall, adding extra valuable space and capacity to the airport. These changes were part of the multimillion-dollar expansion of Doha Airport to cope with the increasing traffic of Qatar Airways and other airlines before the new Hamad International Airport opened in 2014.


Qatar Airways Premium Terminal

The Qatar Airways Premium Terminal was opened in 2006 and handled all Qatar Airways first and business class passengers. There are 6 gates in this terminal.


Airlines and destinations

The airport shut down for commercial traffic on 27 May 2014 when all airlines relocated to its successor, Hamad International Airport. The last commercial flight departing from Doha International Airport was a
Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
plane returning to its home of
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
at 00:30 on 28 May 2014. From 14 September 2022, the airport has started again to be used for passenger traffic, due to the
2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...
. At least 13 airlines, including
Etihad Airways Etihad Airways ( ar, شَرِكَة ٱلْاِتِّحَاد لِلطَّيْرَان, sharikat al-ittiḥād li-ṭ-ṭayarān) is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Emirates). Its head office is in Khalifa ...
,
Flydubai Flydubai ( ar, فلاي دبي), legally Dubai Aviation Corporation ( ar, مؤسسة دبي للطيران), is an Emirati government-owned low-cost airline in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with its head office and flight operations in Terminal 2 ...
,
Pegasus Airlines Pegasus Airlines ( tr, Pegasus Hava Taşımacılığı A.Ş.) (), sometimes stylized as Flypgs, is a Turkish low-cost carrier headquartered in the Kurtköy area of Pendik, Istanbul with bases at several Turkish airports. History On 1 Dece ...
,
Jazeera Airways Jazeera Airways K.S.C ( ar, طيران الجزيرة) is a Kuwaiti airline with its head office on the grounds of Kuwait International Airport in Al Farwaniyah Governorate, Kuwait. It operates scheduled services in the Middle East, Nepal, Pakis ...
, and
SalamAir SalamAir ( ar, طيران السلام, Ṭayarān as-salām) is a low-cost airline from Oman headquartered and based at Muscat International Airport. History Salam Air is owned by the Muscat National Development and Investment Company (ASAAS) w ...
moved their regular scheduled flights to the airport, until the end of 2022, after the end of the World Cup. Designated Match Day Shuttle flights will instead use the newer
Hamad International Airport Hamad International Airport ( ar, مطار حمد الدولي, ') is an international airport in the State of Qatar, and the home of Qatar’s flag carrier airline, Qatar Airways. Located east of its capital, Doha, it replaced the nearby Doha ...
. Temporary routes operating to the airport until the end of 2022 are listed below.


Statistics

Since 1998, the number of passengers and total cargo load increased significantly.


Accidents and incidents

*On 13 March 1979, an Alia Royal Jordanian
Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...
operating Flight 600 crashed following a missed approach. Three crew members and 42 passengers were killed. The aircraft was written off. *In 2000, an Iraqi hijacker hijacked a Qatar Airways plane and demanded that the pilot fly to Saudi Arabia.


See also

*
Transport in Qatar This article is about transport in Qatar. Public transport In 2002, the Qatari government launched Mowasalat, a company 100% owned by the government, managed and operated by the state authorities to ensure the smooth provision of integrated gro ...
*
List of airports in Qatar This is a list of airports in Qatar, sorted by location. __TOC__ Airports See also * Old Airport (Doha), a city district * Transport in Qatar * List of airports by ICAO code: O#OT - Qatar * Wikipedia:WikiProject Aviation/Airline destinat ...
* Old Airport (Doha), the district near the airport


References


External links

* * * {{authority control Airports disestablished in 2014 Airports in Qatar Transport in Doha Airports established in 1959 1959 establishments in Qatar