Qatar airport expansion plans revealed

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Architects are finalising design plans for an expansion of the recently opened Hamad International Airport passenger terminal.

Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar Al Baker told Doha News that he expected British architect, Sir Norman Foster, to wrap up his work “over the next few months”.

Construction firms would be invited to bid on the extension project, once the design is set.

The expansion is expected to be complete within the next three years.

Work will effectively increase the size of the passenger terminal by 50%, enlarging it to roughly 900,000m².

The addition of 24 new airplane gates directly attached to the terminal, is included in the expansion project, bringing the total number of gates to 65, in addition to the 22 existing ‘remote gates’ on the tarmac that require buses to bring passengers to the terminal.

The expansion would increase the airport’s capacity by two-thirds, equating to 50mn travellers annually.

Air passenger traffic in Qatar has climbed rapidly in recent years, growing 10% or more annually to reach 23.27mn in 2013.