The ‘Arctic Nurseries of El Dorado’ by British artist Marc Quinn at Hamad International Airport.
Hamad International Airport (HIA) is among the fastest growing airport in the world. The airport is an integral part of Qatar's long term development strategy, said the Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, yesterday.
“HIA has achieved high efficiency and capacity rates over the past few years making it the fastest growing airport in the world in addition to ranking the sixth best airport in the world, as voted by passengers,” said the Minister In his opening speech at the 12th ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly, Conference & Exhibition at St Regis Hotel.
Within three years, HIA has ranked itself highly internationally, while the national airline, Qatar Airways, has managed to expand to 150 global destinations, said the Minister.
The three-day high-profile event, hosted by HIA, is being attended by 400 delegates representing 175 organisations from 54 countries.
HIA to maintain its global position
The Minister said HIA is seriously developing its services through its new management to increase the airport's development rate and to maintain its global position for passengers and air cargo as well as making use of investment opportunities in other international airports.
Qatar welcomes all initiatives that allow airlines to reach different global markets and contributes to providing more flight schedule choices and ticket prices to the end user and passengers, the Minister added.
Al Sulaiti urged all members of the aviation industry to work towards improving their environmental performance and effectively contribute to addressing climate change. In regards to the environment, he said Qatar Airways and HIA have worked hard to protect the environment, which is evident in their continuous announcement of their long term interest in environmental performance.
“Hamad International Airport is the best example to illustrate what other airports in the region are experiencing and what ACI has been promoting – the excellence of airport operations and management. We have been, and will continue to work closely with our industry partners, ICAO and IATA, to develop programs and tools to help our members to achieve improvements in safety and security,” said Kerrie Mather, President of ACI Asia-Pacific.
Eng Badr Mohammed Al Meer, Chief Operating Officer of HIA, and Special Advisor to the ACI Asia-Pacific Board said: “We are delighted to host an event of such international calibre in Doha and welcome our industry peers to HIA.”.
