The budget to grow Qatar’s aviation industry and complete Hamad International Airport’s expansion have not been trimmed despite belt-tightening efforts elsewhere by the government, a senior official has said.

Aviation is key to diversity Qatar’s economy and developing tourism, Civil Aviation Authority chairman Abdulla Nasser Turki Al Subaey told Oxford Business Group this week. The airport opened in 2014 and has already reached passenger capacity. Plans for its expansion are “progressing” and should be done before 2022, he added.