The multiple award winning airport – Hamad International Airport – has again become the busiest hub for international travellers thanks to its state-of-the-art facilities and ever growing popularity of Qatar Airways.
Hamad International Airport (HIA) has witnessed an increase of over 164% in passengers’ movement in the first half of 2022 compared to same period of last year. According to data released by Civil Aviation Authority, HIA recorded over 15 million passengers in the first half of this year while the airport had seen movement of 5,895,090 passengers in the first half of 2021.
The movement of aircraft at HIA during the first half of 2022 also increased by 33.2% compared to the same period of 2021. The airport welcomed 100,594 aircraft in the first half of 2022 while it had welcomed 75,533 aircraft in the first half of 2021. The latest figures consolidate HIA’s growth and recent recognition as the World’s Best Airport by Skytrax for the second straight year.
In June this year, Hamad International Airport (HIA) had been ranked and named the “Best Airport in the World” for the second consecutive year by the prestigious Skytrax World Airport Awards 2022. The airport had also retained its “Best Airport in the Middle East” title for the eighth year in a row.
The rankings were based on voting submitted by air travellers and passenger satisfaction across 39 key performance indicators for airport services and products, including check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security, immigration and departure.
As Qatar prepares to welcome the world for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the HIA is at the epicentre of all the ongoing preparations. The airport’s Phase A expansion is well underway, as the capacity is set to increase to more than 58 million passengers.The HIA’s Phase B expansion will then begin in early 2023 and boost the capacity to more than 60 million passengers.
Recently, the QCAA, in a report, predicted that the number of passengers, including arrivals, departures and transits, at Qatar’s airports around November and December 2022 would be over seven million. The report added that flights at Hamad International Airport (HIA) and Doha International Airport are expected to reach about 28,000 scheduled and chartered flights during the FIFA World Cup from November 21 to December 18, 2022.
The QCAA added that passenger traffic forecasts show the possibility of recording a significant growth ranging from +90 percent to +105 percent compared to 2021, bringing the total number of passengers in the year to approximately 34 million — assuming that the travel recovery continues and more countries remove health-related travel restrictions.
