Doha: Hamad International Airport plans to open 20 new e-gates this year to facilitate the entry and exit of passengers from and to Doha.
"We currently have 40 e-gates and will add 20 more e-gates this year after an agreement with the Ministry of Interior's Passport Department," Al Sharq newspaper quoted Chief Operating Officer of Hamad International Airport, Badr Al-Meer in a report.
Now there are 40 electronic gates in HIA, 19 in the arrivals lounge and 21 in the departures lounge, which facilitate the smooth entry and exit of passengers at HIA. The E-gates work with the identification of travelers’ vital data including fingerprints, iris scan and personal travel documents.
The number of E-gate users at Hamad International Airport (HIA) almost doubled in 2017 compared to the preceding year. As many as 2.46 million passengers used the E-gates at HIA last year, including 1.28 million arrivals to the country and 1.18 million departures from the country, while in 2016, a total of 1.41 million passengers had used the facility.
You need to have a valid Qatar ID to use the facility. Once you register your fingerprints at the airport, then the whole process takes a few seconds and this cuts down waiting time at immigration drastically. Children are not allowed through e-gate.
Regarding the features at the airport, Al-Meer said: "The lamp bear is one of the iconic landmarks that attract the attention of a large number of passengers, but we need another iconic statue.
This is will be done in cooperation with the Qatar Museums Authority and we have more than one piece of art to be installed at the airport. In March, a huge wooden statue, bigger than the lamp bear, will be installed.”
Earlier, Qatar Museums had announced that ‘Small Lie’ by American pop artist KAWS will join Lamp Bear and other art installations at HIA.
