Hamad International Airport (HIA) recently welcomed a panel of youth in collaboration with the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), offering an exclusive tour of the award-winning airport.

The SC is inspiring local youth participation by choosing a group of students from local high schools and universities to be involved in preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The visit to the airport is “relevant as HIA is one of the most important entities that will ensure the success of Qatar in 2022”, according to a press statement. The tour aimed to showcase the airport’s facilities and services, which would allow the country to welcome football fans visiting Qatar from around the world to attend this important event.

The tour highlighted the airport’s premium facilities and services, including visits to Al Safwa lounge, Al Mourjan lounge, the Airport Hotel and Vitality spa. It also showcased all of HIA’s art pieces placed throughout the airport.

Hamad International Airport vice-president (Commercial) Abdulaziz al-Mass said, “It was a pleasure to host the Supreme Committee youth panel at our airport. We are firmly committed to our goal to continue further developments in order to ensure smooth operations and easy travel for the millions of international passengers we will be welcoming in 2022.”

The SC’s Community Engagement Manager, Khalid al-Jumaily, added: “The visit provided members with an opportunity to explore every element of the airport facilities. Everyone found the visit very informative thanks to the airport’s expert staff. HIA is setting a high standard for airports regionally and internationally.

“We enjoyed learning about the smart airport concept, which demonstrated the ease of using technology to move quickly and efficiently through the airport. The visit demonstrated HIA’s readiness to host thousands of visitors in the lead-up to 2022 and beyond.”

HIA has the latest technology, which makes the airport “prepared to handle passengers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup”, the statement notes. The airport spans 22sqkm, one-third the size of the city of Doha. Currently, the airport can handle more than 30mn passengers and is undergoing further expansion to accommodate more than 50mn more passengers.

HIA has many services and facilities to make passenger movements faster and easier, such as the dual passenger train service designed to shuttle passengers across the terminal and 138 check-in counters, 50 passport control counters and 20 e-gates and direct access between boarding gates and aircraft with 41 contact gates.

Hamad International Airport has various successful collaborations with the SC. In the past, it has organised a workshop to allow an independent consultation group to advise on specific disability access requirements within HIA required ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, as well as a giant scale model of Al Thumama Stadium that was put on display at the airport during a special unveiling ceremony last month.

HIA has been classified as a five-star airport by Skytrax, making it one among only five other airports in the world to achieve this prestigious status. Earlier this year, it was ranked Sixth Best Airport in the World by the 2017 Skytrax World Airport Awards, moving up four places from 2016. HIA has also won the ‘Best Airport in the Middle East’ title for three years in a row and ‘Best Staff Service in the Middle East’ for two years in a row.

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