Hamad International Airport (HIA)
Doha: The Hamad International Airport (HIA) has been ranked among the Top 10 Busiest International Airports by Seats, according to data from Official Airline Guide (OAG), a global travel data provider. The data, according to OAG, was calculated using international frequency only.
HIA recorded 2,147,221 seats in April 2023, ranking 9th in the top 10 airports in April – a rise from 13th in the same month in 2019. The busiest international airports were concentrated in the Middle East and Europe, with two in the Middle East and 6 in Europe.
The ranking also placed Dubai International at number one with 4,484,082 million seats, while London Heathrow was second with 3,835,054 seats in the same month.
Amsterdam airport recorded just over three million seats, Paris Charles de Gaulle stood at 2,957,595, Istanbul airport at 2.9 million, and Singapore’s Changi registered 2.86 million. Frankfurt International and Seoul Incheon logged 2.7 and 2.5 million, respectively, while Madrid’s Adolfo Suarez reached 2 million to complete the top 10.
The numbers mirror the airport’s recent expansion projects, the first phase, which opened on November 10, 2022, increasing capacity to 58 million passengers per year. The final stage of HIA’s expansion is expected to be completed in less than three years (approximately 2025) and will increase capacity to 70 million passengers annually.
HIA recently announced that passenger numbers more than doubled year-on-year to reach 35,734,243 in 2022 — representing +101.9% of the 2021 number and 92.1% of the pre-pandemic 2019 total.
In February, HIA was chosen as the ‘Best Overall Airport in the World’ at the 19th Annual Global Traveler Tested Reader Survey Awards, voted by readers and frequent business and luxury travellers. The airport was also awarded the ‘Best Airport in the Middle East’ for the sixth consecutive year.
Besides, HIA was also ranked as the second-best airport in the world, along with titles for ‘World’s Best Airport Shopping’ and ‘Best Airport in the Middle East’ for the ninth time in a row at the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2023.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, H E Akbar Al Baker, recently disclosed that HIA aims to hit record numbers this year, building on post-pandemic recovery and the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Al Baker told the press in February this year that the airport is nearly at pre-pandemic levels, adding he hopes “we will break a record on the number of passengers that will pass this year.”
