HIA reports serving ‘record’ 37.3mn passengers in 2016. Hamad International Airport has seen a “record” 37.3mn passengers and 245,800 landings and take-offs in 2016, a new milestone in HIA’s traffic and aircraft movements last year. This outstanding performance represents an increase of 20.5% and 15.8% respectively, HIA said on Tuesday. On the cargo front, airfreight [cargo and mail] also grew by 20.8% reaching a new high of 1.7mn tonnes for the year.

During 2016, HIA invested in increasing its capacity, improving its product offering and redesigning its operational processes to efficiently accommodate the increasing traffic over the coming years, while continuing to upgrade its award-winning services. Concourses D and E, commissioned in October 2015, became fully utilised in 2016, providing eight more contact gates, bringing the total to 41 gates and increasing the total number of flights departing from contact gates. The additional functional space of 130,000 square metres for passengers expanded terminal capacity, enriched the retail offering and facilitated transfers.

HIA also launched its dual passenger trains in the terminal, drastically reducing passenger travel time through the terminal, while enhancing the attractiveness of HIA’s transfer product. Significant technological investments have been undertaken to facilitate faster passenger movement within the terminal, including HIA’s iBeacon enabled mobile app and the launch of the Smart Airport Programme in the terminal by integrating best of breed technologies.
On the operations side, 15 new aircraft parking stands have been constructed to support the hub operation of Qatar Airways. HIA actively supported and contributed to the newly-established Qatar Slot Coordination, recognising its key role in managing capacity in accordance with international best practice. HIA also introduced the international best practice of airport stakeholder-driven Collaborative Decision Making approach, aiming at optimising operational management in 2016. During 2016, HIA also witnessed a growth in network with Qatar Airways connecting Doha directly to 14 new destinations.