Qatar Airways and Hamad International Airport: Smooth operations during peak Eid season

Qatar Airways and Hamad International Airport reported an exceptionally high volume of traffic during the busy Eid-Al Fitr holiday period despite the current regional travel restrictions imposed by its neighbouring countries.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive His Excellency, Mr Akbar Al Baker said, “In spite of recent restrictions imposed on the airline, our operations to and from Doha remain resilient and are running smoothly. In the past seven days, 510,949 passengers have flown from Hamad International Airport on board more than 2,900 flights. During the peak Eid-Al Fitr holiday period, 22-24 June, 49,794 of those passengers were joining flights directly from Doha.”

Eng. Mr. Badr Al Meer, Hamad International Airport Chief Operating Officer, added, “The airport has had a very busy Eid period with the total number of passengers travelling on all airlines, including the national carrier Qatar Airways, from 19-25 June reaching 580,000, and added that there were 3,300 movements during this time. Hamad International Airport continues to urge passengers to arrive early for check in during this busy holiday period.”

Hamad International Airport recently reported that it served 19 million passengers from January to June 2017, 8 per cent more than those served in the same period in 2016.

Qatar Airways continues to operate to the majority of its network of more than 150 destinations around the world, with 90% of those flights departing within 15 minutes of their scheduled departure time.

The airline shows no sign of slowing down its rapid network growth having launched its new service to Dublin, Republic of Ireland, on 12 June, which will be followed by new route launches on 4 July to Nice, France, and 17 July to Skopje, Macedonia. Other new destinations planned for the remainder of this year and 2018 include Las Vegas (USA), Canberra (Australia), Douala (Cameroon), Libreville (Gabon), Medan (Indonesia), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Santiago (Chile) and Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), as well as many others.

Earlier this month the airline released its annual report for the fiscal year 2017, revealing a net profit of $541 million, a 21.7 per cent year-on-year increase. The results also show an annual revenue increase of 10.4 per cent.

Reflecting the ongoing success of Qatar Airways, the airline was awarded the Skytrax Airline of the Year award for the fourth time at the 2017 Paris Air Show. In addition to this prestigious award it was also named Best Airline in the Middle East, World’s Best Business Class and World’s Best First Class Airline Lounge. Qatar Airways’ home and hub, Hamad International Airport, was this year also rated five-star by Skytrax, one of only five in the world to be given this recognition.