The Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority, Abdul Aziz Mohammed Al Nuaimi, inaugurating the Airport Exchange Conference and Exhibition at Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha yesterday. Salim Matramkot
DOHA: Once fully operational, the Hamad International Airport (HIA) will handle an average of nearly 1,000 aircraft carrying over 135,000 passengers daily from across the world, a senior official of Qatar Airways said at the ongoing annual ACI Airport Exchange conference and exhibition here yesterday.
Build at a whopping cost of $15.5bn (QR56.4bn), Qatar, with the ambitious and state-of-the-art HIA project, aims to enhance region’s air transport infrastructure and capacity.
“HIA will open with a capacity of 24 million passengers per year, rising to around 50 million when we reach full operational capacity in 2015. This represents an increase in aircraft movements from 137,000 to 360,000 each year. And our annual cargo capacity will nearly double, from 0.8 to 1.4 million tonnes,” said Ashish Jain, Senior Vice President, Group Safety and Security, Qatar Airways, in the official capacity of the airline’s CEO Akbar Al Baker’s representative at the conference.
The annual event commenced at Qatar National Convention Centre yesterday with a series of keynote addresses, symposiums and seminars addressing the latest developments in the aviation sector. Themed ‘Beyond Airports 2020’, some 1,000 delegates from around the world are expected to attend the two-day conference.
Chairman of Qatar Civil Aviation Authority Abdul Aziz Mohammed Al Nuaimi inaugurated the exhibition with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Senior Qatar Airways Group representatives attending the inauguration included Executive Vice President Patrick Muller and Senior Manager Public Relations and Communications for Doha International Airport (DIA) Abdulaziz Al Mass, and Vice President, Human Resource Employee Services for Qatar Airways, Nabeela Fakhri.
Jain highlighted how Qatar Airways and HIA aim to enhance the region’s air transport infrastructure and capacity, as well as set new standards for airport hubs regionally and internationally.
“Qatar is a rapidly developing nation budding with aviation growth, spurred by the onset of Qatar Airways, which is at the helm of this development. Fundamentally, HIA arose from a need to increase Qatar’s aviation capacity. The new airport will keep pace with Qatar’s growth and actively contribute to this exciting era of cultural and economic development,” he said.
He also said airports need to develop capacity to innovate and exceed expectations, which HIA is expected to achieve.
“HIA represents an entirely new approach and understanding of what constitutes an airport of the future. From its design to operations, facilities and services, HIA will offer passengers a completely different experience from what they are accustomed to today”, he added.
Over the course of the event, top executives from DIA and Qatar Airways will shed light on how the HIA will deliver seamless passenger experiences so that passengers will choose to travel via this airport.
“We need to serve our home city and remain competitive with other regional airport hubs; but we also aspire to set new standards of operational efficiency, passenger experience and community engagement. We want people to choose to travel through HIA as a destination experience”.
Jain concluded by acknowledging the challenges that HIA has faced in its opening, including construction delays, but firmly asserted that while Qatar is a rapidly developing country, it also demands nothing less than the best. The Peninsula
