Over the course of several weeks from 30 April, Qatar’s new Hamad International Airport (HIA) launched commercial operations. It is the second greenfield airport to open in the GCC in recent years and cements the region’s position as the vanguard of the global aviation industry. The $15.5bn airport, previously known as New Doha International, has an initial capacity of 30 million passengers a year, nearly double the design capacity of the now retired Doha International, situated some 4 kilometres away.

Accommodating A380s

The two-runway airport has 138 check-in desks and currently operates 41 contact gates, which will increase to 65 once the remaining two concourses open after 2015. HIA will then be able to accommodate 50 million passengers a year. The airport was built on 2,200 hectares of land, of which 60 per cent was reclaimed from the sea, and its location changes the flight path over the city, allowing for the construction of more tall towers while accommodating unrestricted operations by all commercial aircraft, including the Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft ever built. The complex includes an airport hotel and a 100-room transit hotel within the terminal.

Work began on the new airport in 2005, with the project split into more than 30 packages. In March 2006, the Sky Oryx joint venture, comprising Japan’s Taisei Corporation and Turkey’s TAV Construction, received the notice to proceed with the design and build of the passenger terminal complex, the largest contract on the scheme. At the time, the deal, valued at QR2.9bn ($797m), was considered the largest building award in the state’s history. The engineering, procurement and construction management contractor was US-based Bechtel, while India’s Punj Lloyd was awarded the fuel systems package.

Despite being completed more than five years behind schedule and subject to law suits and contract cancellations, the opening of the first phase of HIA is a major milestone in the development of Qatar’s aviation industry and will support the continued rapid expansion of the national airline.

Qatar Airways, which manages the new airport, is one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines; from only four planes in 1997, today it has a fleet of 134 aircraft and flies to 140 destinations. During the 2012/13 financial year, the carrier transported more than 18 million passengers, compared with 3.3 million passengers in 2003/04, which represents a 445 per cent increase in about a decade. The next 10 years will see continued expansion, with plans to double annual passenger numbers to about 35 million by 2022, when Qatar will host the Fifa World Cup.

In 2015, the airline’s fleet size will rise to more than 170 aircraft covering a global network of destinations, which will also increase to more than 170. In total, the airline has 300 aircraft on order worth more than $50bn. Qatar Airways has one of the youngest fleets in the industry, with an average aircraft age of about five years.

Positive outlook

“We were late in this game, but we are now the second-largest [aviation hub in the Middle East after Dubai International], so we must be doing something right,” says Akbar al-Baker, Qatar Airways’ CEO. “In the first three months of this year, Qatar’s airport growth was double the rate of Dubai. When HIA is fully operational, this will give us a huge leap in growth and I expect our growth will touch 30 per cent.”

Doha International was the 18th busiest airport worldwide in terms of international passenger traffic in the first quarter of this year, and 23rd in terms of cargo volumes, while Dubai International ranked first and second respectively.

“Dubai started 20 years before us, we don’t want to catch up with them and we will not be able to,” says Al-Baker. However, with the opening of HIA, Qatar will be certain to move up the rankings in the years ahead.