Qatar needs to increase its airport capacity to help receive materials for its infrastructure programme ahead of the 2022 Fifa World Cup, and to welcome visitors when the tournament begins. The New Doha International airport Steering Committee was set up in 2002 to plan, implement and oversee the construction of what was then called New Doha International airport (NDIA). The steering committee is headed by Abdulaziz Mohammad al-Noaimi, who is also chairman of the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority. The steering committee’s tasks include managing the design and procurement of the airport.

At the peak of airport construction, the steering committee had more than 150 employees, overseeing more than 1,000 project managers. The airport project had a total workforce of more than 50,000 people.

After a series of delays, the airport – now called Hamad International airport (HIA) – is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2014. Once HIA is completed and operational, the steering committee will continue to work on the project’s expansion and on the adjacent Airport City free zone.

HIA will have an 85-metre-high control tower and two of the longest runways in the world. The eastern runway, at 4.8 kilometres, will be the longest commercial runway at sea level, and the western runway is 4.2km. At 60 metres wide, both are designed for the Airbus A380 super jumbo, due to enter state carrier Qatar Airways’ fleet in June.

A 69,000-square-metre, four-storey catering facility will be one of the largest in the world, able to produce 90,000 meals a day, and the airport’s maintenance facilities will feature the world’s largest free-span door opening. Two driverless trains will transport up to 6,000 people an hour between sections of the terminal at up to 45km an hour. An Emiri terminal, for the use of the ruler, his family and guests, is also being built and is designed to look like the sails of dhows.

When a phased opening was planned last year, about 10 airlines were initially to use the airport – primarily low-cost carriers such as the UAE’s Flydubai and Air Arabia. Qatar Airways would later move the bulk of its operations to the new airport. With the mid-2014 opening date, it has not yet been decided whether the opening will be partial, or a grand opening with the approximately 30 airlines that currently use the existing Doha International airport shifting to the new facility.

Next to HIA is Airport City, a 10-square-kilometre development that has been masterplanned by Dutch architecture firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and will eventually accommodate 200,000 people. According to OMA, phase 1 of the 30-year plan will be “mostly complete” in time for the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

This part of the development will include airside and landside facilities for business logistics, retail outlets, hotels and residences. The masterplan and one major building – the headquarters of Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority, designed by the UK’s Grimshaw Architects – have been approved so far.