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Qatar will reopen the dormant Doha International Airport next week, airlines announced Wednesday, ahead of the 2022 World Cup, which is expected to draw over a million visitors.
The Doha airport has been in semi-retirement since it was replaced in 2014 by the nearby Hamad International Airport, which has since grown into a major hub alongside the expansion of flag carrier Qatar Airways.
Qatari authorities have not commented on the return of flights from Hamad to Doha, but Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways, the UAE’s flydubai, Oman’s SalamAir, and Turkey’s Pegasus Airlines have begun selling tickets to Doha airport as of September 15.
It is currently primarily used for flights by Qatar’s royal family, VIPs, and air force.
Hamad International Airport served three million passengers in June alone, and 8.42 million in the second quarter of 2022, an increase of 18 percent over the first three months of the year, according to the civil aviation authority.
It is also undergoing expansion, which will increase capacity to 58 million passengers per year.
However, with 150,000 people expected to arrive per day during the peak days of the World Cup, which begins November 20 and will last four weeks, some aviation analysts believe Hamad airport will struggle to keep up.
Passengers on those flights will be subjected to immigration checks prior to departure in order to reduce delays in Doha. They will be asked to return the following day after their match.
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