Hamad International Airport (HIA) has welcomed 120mn passengers until the end of 2017 from the beginning of its operations on May 27, 2014, it was announced. In 2017, cargo recorded an increase of 14.52%, with a total of 1.9mn tonnes in handling.
“HIA successfully recovered its passenger numbers with an average monthly increase of 3.75% in the second half of year, after the initial drop in volume in June 2017 due to the restrictions imposed on the country,” according to a statement.
HIA has been recognised for its punctuality, ranking next to first, among the most punctual major airports scoring 85.41% on-time performance (OTP), as demonstrated in aviation analysts OAG’s 2017 Punctuality Report recently released.
HIA’s resilience is due to new strategic partnerships and to a combined effort from the airport, its national carrier Qatar Airways, and Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA), who have worked together to encourage and promote tourism and travel in Qatar.
While Qatar Airways accelerated its global expansion with the launching of 10 new destinations in 2017, QTA’s efforts to allow visa-free entry for citizens of 80 countries makes Qatar the most "open country" in the region and supports HIA’s growth to a great extent.
Meanwhile, HIA has welcomed several new airlines which started operations in Qatar in 2017 including Oman’s SalamAir, Kuwait’s Al Wataniya Airlines and Jazeera Airways, Bangladesh’s Regent Airways and US Bangla, and IndiGo, India’s largest and fastest growing low-cost carrier.
“HIA is a very resilient and busy airport with a clear vision enabling operational excellence, a solid growth strategy managed by a talented team committed to provide the best travel experience, in addition to joining forces with a world-class airline. Its strategic geographical location at crossroads of the Eastern and Western part of the world gives HIA a strong competitive advantage,” commented chief operating officer engineer Badr Mohamed al-Meer.
The year 2017 was successful for HIA on multiple fronts. Al-Meer said : “Since its opening in 2014, HIA’s overall achievements are unmatched by any other airport in the region. HIA continues to be one of the fastest-growing hubs in the world.”
Sports and culture were one of the key highlights of 2017: HIA strengthened its Platinum sponsorship of German football team FC Bayern Munchen, and partnered with Qatar Museums to launch a series of exclusive guided tours of iconic artworks by local and international artists displayed at HIA.
The year 2017 also marked the signature of two major strategic partnerships building on HIA’s Smart Airport Vision: HIA signed a memorandum of understanding with Huawei, aimed at enabling the airport’s digital transformation in May 2017 and with global IT provider SITA in order to jointly trial and improve passenger processing solutions. HIA is now part of the SITA club composed of 400 members of the global air transport industry.
During 2017 HIA was rewarded for its environmental protection strategy, by successfully reaching Level 3 ‘Optimisation’ status in the Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Carbon Accreditation programme.
HIA is currently preparing the launch of a major new art piece by KAWS during the first quarter of 2018 and is working on new global partnerships to build on best-in-class passenger experience.
HIA is currently a candidate for the “Best Airport in the World” award by Skytrax which also classified it as a five-star airport in 2017, 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.
