Qatar: New Doha Arrivals Terminal To Open To Passengers
By Novell Zwange – Doha, QATAR – Doha International Airport (DIA) today announced its dedicated new Doha Arrivals terminal will open to passengers on Sunday 19th December 2010. The last flight operating through the existing arrivals area in the airport’s main terminal will be Emirates flight EK841 from Dubai, scheduled to land at DIA at 0830 hrs local time.
Passengers on subsequent flights arriving at DIA will be directed to the new terminal where all arrival formalities, including immigration and baggage collection will be conducted. The first flight operating through the new Doha Arrivals terminal will be Qatar Airways flight QR133 from Kuwait, scheduled to touchdown at DIA at 1130 hrs local time.
Access to the new facility is through C-Ring Road between VIP roundabout and Ras Aboud flyover. Travellers and those receiving passengers arriving into Qatar by air are advised to take note of the changes.
Passengers who have parked their vehicles at the main terminal will be offered a free shuttle service to transport them back to the car park on their return to Qatar. The existing Arrivals area will be renamed to Departures & Transfers terminal from 19th December.
Following the opening of the Doha Arrivals terminal, work will begin on expanding the Departures & Transfers terminal to provide larger check-in and transfer areas, as well as additional boarding gates and other amenities.
The expansion will facilitate forecasted growth in passenger traffic through Doha International Airport while the country prepares its state-of-the-art New Doha International Airport (NDIA), located four kilometres east of the existing airport. NDIA is scheduled to open in 2012.
Doha International Airport, which currently handles more than 15 million passengers a year, has undergone a dramatic change over the past three years, virtually doubling in size to cope with the huge demand for air travel to and from Qatar, which has been spearheaded by the huge infrastructure improvements taking place in the country.
National carrier Qatar Airways is the main operator of flights to and from Doha. There are over 30 international airlines from Europe, Middle East and Asia operating scheduled flights to Doha.
