Qatar Airways has commenced full operations at its new state-of-the-art hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA) with the first flight QR1113 from Bahrain landing at the new airport at 9:10am local time on Tuesday.
With the first Qatar Airways commercial flight QR1113 from Bahrain landing at HIA at 9:10am local time, operations for all airlines have now been transferred to HIA, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.
“The moment we have all been building towards for many years arrived today as QR1113 touched down, marking the historic start of our full operations at the world-class HIA,” said Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker.
“This is yet another milestone in the rich history of Qatar Airways, and one that will allow us to fully realize our ambitions, and to offer our passengers the very best of services, both in the air and on the ground,” he stated.
“Qatar Airways will be able to offer an exceptional passenger experience, as HIA has been designed with passengers foremost in mind. The airport will also be able to accommodate the world's largest aircraft, such as our much-anticipated Qatar Airways Airbus A380 which will commence operations to the UK in June and France in July,” he added.
The new airport is located on the East coast of the peninsula, just 16km from the centre of Doha and 4km from Doha International Airport.
Due to an elaborate newly-built road infrastructure surrounding HIA, arrival time to the airport is around 25 minutes, depending on traffic.
Qatar Airways' passengers can travel to HIA via car, bus, taxi or limo services.