Qatar expects to have over one million visitors during the FIFA World Cup. To cope with the influx of football fans, Qatar Airways is looking to serve nearly 13,000 flights in less than a month, during the period of November 17 to December 20.
Hamad International Airport has undertaken a new expansion and has switched its operating model from hub-and-spoke to point-to-point to cater to the arrivals in Doha starting November, Dersenish Aresandiran, Vice President Commercial Middle East, Caucasus and Pakistan, Qatar Airways, told Arabian Business.
Qatar Airways will operate more than 150 daily match shuttles alongside its Middle Eastern Airline partners.
“We are conveniently connecting match ticket holders to Doha for a 24-hour experience, allowing fans to base themselves in a nearby city, such as Dubai or Kuwait City. This enables fans to fly to Doha on the same day as their match and enjoy the excitement and festivities while later seamlessly flying back,” explained Aresandiran.
HIA’s expansion plans, which were previously revealed in the fourth quarter of 2019, is being carried out in two phases, A and B.
“Phase A of the airport’s expansion will include linking the North Node to the new Central Concourse, increasing the terminal’s handling capacity to more than 58 million passengers, and spanning across a total of 240,000 sqm,” Aresandiran explained.
Phase B of the expansion plan will further enhance the airport’s capacity to more than 60 million passengers annually to cater to the ever-growing passenger and cargo traffic demand.
“Qatar Airways will implement various strategies to maximise capacity and optimise its network to ensure that fans from around the world experience the airline’s award-winning service. These strategies include increasing capacity to countries that have qualified for the tournament and those countries where football fans are likely to travel to Qatar for the historic event. In addition, the airline will redesign the network to make it more agile and flexible, offering passengers seamless connectivity worldwide,” Aresandiran concluded.
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