A new company owned by Qatar Airways Group will be established to manage and operate Hamad International Airport.

The development emerged following a recent meeting among the executive board members of the Qatar Airways Group, a local media report said.

Qatar Airways currently operates the airport, whose current capacity stands at 30 million passengers a year. The airport entered operations in 2014, taking over the old Doha International airport.

There are plans to expand the airport, with a tender for the expansion of the main terminal expected in 2017.

The newly-formed Hamad International Airport (HIA) Steering Committee is the client for the airport expansion project.

the award of a contract for the construction of a multi-level car park at the airport is expected soon.

Most airports in the region including those in Dubai and Bahrain are operated and managed by an independent entity that are either affiliated with the civil aviation or transport agency.

Until recently, the Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) operates all airports in the kingdom. It started to devolve this role in 2016 with the formation of the Riyadh Airport Company, and the appointment of a private operator for Terminal 5 of the King Khalid International airport (KKIA) in the capital.