Updated on May 12 with more information.
A handful of additional carriers will start flying in and out of Hamad International Airport on Wednesday, May 14, a Doha International Airport spokesman has confirmed to Doha News.
Etihad Airways, Kuwait Airways, Sri Lankan Airlines and Royal Jordanian received circulars from the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority to this effect, Al Sharq has reported.
HIA has also announced that Bangladeshi airline, United Airways, will begin flying out of the new airport on Thursday, May 15.
The new airport soft launched late last month, with 10 budget carriers shifting over its operations from DIA.
According to HIA’s website, these are the only airlines slated to fly in and out of the airport until the full opening on May 27: Air Arabia, Air India Express, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, FlyDubai, Iran Air, Nepal Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, Syrian Air and Yemenia.
It states that “all other airlines, including Qatar Airways, will continue to fly to/from Doha International Airport until 27th May, 2014.”
However, the DIA spokesman told Doha News that officials had always planned to move carriers over in phases. He added that more airlines in addition to the four already mentioned would likely be shifted from the DIA to the HIA in the coming 10 days.
What’s coming up
At the time of the soft launch in late April, passengers reported glee at not having to take a bus to get to and from their airplanes, as must be done at DIA.
However, only two cafes in HIA and a few Qatar Duty Free outlets were open for business. It is unclear how many of the airport’s 80 shops and 30 eateries will come online in the next few weeks.
The HIA was originally supposed to be completed in 2009. It has since missed several opening deadlines, including Dec. 12, 2012 (12/12/12) and April 1, 2013, when the launch was scrapped only an hour before a passenger plane was set to land.
At the time, the CEO of Qatar Airways, which is operating the airport, said of the delays that “certain issues about international standards which had been raised by authorities over the last year had to be addressed,” and that these had taken longer to resolve than expected.
“But, we should forget about what happened in the past, and now look to the future,” he added.
Once all carriers move over to the HIA at the end of May, the DIA’s runways and facilities are expected to be used by Gulf Helicopters and the Qatar Aeronautical College, officials previously said.
Thoughts?
