(10 May 2022, 11:36 +07)
 Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Qatar has
reported a Q1 2022 surge in passenger traffic of 162% compared to
the same period in 2021.

HIA served a total of 7.14 million passengers in
the first quarter of 2022, with 2,163,086 passengers in January,
2,168,265 passengers in February and 2,812,874 passengers in March
2022.

The airport saw a total of 48,680 aircraft movements in Q1
2022, including aircraft take-offs and landings. There were
16,239 aircraft movements in January, 15,121 movements in February
and 17,320 movements in March 2022. This amounts to a 30%
increase compared to same period last year.

HIA handled 585,448 tonnes of cargo in Q1 2022;
190,113 tonnes of cargo in January, 179,753 tonnes in
February and 215,581 tonnes in March 2022.

The airport also added two new cargo and three new
passenger destinations to its network.

In total, HIA had 36 airline partners during Q1 of
2022. The top 5 busiest departing destinations from HIA were
Heathrow, Colombo, Kathmandu, Dubai and Male.

The Far East served
the highest market-share at 30.93 percent, followed by Europe at
25.20 percent, the Middle East at 16.71 percent, Africa at 12.66
percent, North America at 11.02 percent, Australia at 2.23
percent, South America at 1.22 percent and Oceania and New Zealand
at 0.01 percent.

Engr. Badr Mohammed Al Meer, Chief Operating
Officer at HIA, said, “Throughout 2021, the COVID19 pandemic
continued to impact various travel markets, which affected our
airport. However, with HIA’s continuous strategic planning,
service excellence, and investments in the latest technological
innovations, we have seen a steady return of passenger traffic
growth. This has led to HIA being ranked the sixth busiest airport
in the world for international passengers in 2021, according to
Airports Council International. This positive trend has continued
to the first quarter of this year – where recovery rose to more
than one and a half times in the Jan-to-March 2022 period compared
to the same period in 2021. The gradual easing of travel
restrictions led to a noticeable recovery in demand for air travel
mostly by leisure traffic.”

As preparations for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
are underway in Qatar, a wave of upcoming events, new hotels,
leisure centres and beaches are set to open in the country.

The
airport’s expansion, currently in Phase A, is set to increase the
capacity to more than 58 million passengers annually by this year
and Phase B, which will commence after the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Qatar, will increase the capacity to more than 60 million
passengers.

“We are looking forward to a busy summer period as
more travel destinations open up around the world; however, the
situation for our industry is expected to remain volatile and
dynamic in 2022. We are taking an optimistic view of the year
ahead, in which HIA will host fans from around the world for the
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. We are expecting a resurgence in air
travel demand during the summer months,” added Badr Al-Meer.