New Doha International Airport to Set Standards;Phase I to Cost $2bn / Qatar

November 12, 2003

New Airport to Set Standards; Phase I to Cost $2bn / Qatar
MENAFN, Middle East

DOHA: Doha International Airport CEO Akbar Al Baker yesterday unveiled the
master plan for a spectacular new state-of-the-art airport at Doha, half
of which will be built on land reclaimed from the sea, in three phases,
the first of which alone will cost $2bn.

The new Doha International Airport will also be the world's first to be
designed and built specifically for the Airbus A380-800 super jumbo - the
world's largest passenger aircraft. The new airport complex will also have
three high-star classification hotels.

To be built to the east of the present airport, the new one, with two
parallel runways, will open in early 2009 after the completion of the
first phase. At this stage, it will be able to handle 12 million
passengers a year, as against the present capacity of 4.2 million of the
existing airport. At the end of the final phase of development in 2015,
the airport will have the capacity to handle 50 million passengers a year.

The first phase will include reclaiming nearly 50 per cent of the 2,200
hectare site from the sea with 46m square metres of fill, one 4,850-metre
runway capable of taking a fully-laden A380-800, a 130,000 square metre
three-storey terminal with 24 Contact Gates, a airport hotel adjacent to
the terminal, and one 100-room hotel within the terminal for transit
passengers, among others.


The second or mid-term phase will include extension of the terminal
building to 219,000 square metres to handle 24 million passengers per
year, while the final or third phase of the project will see the further
expansion of the terminal building to 416,000 square metres to handle 50
million passengers a year.

"Our airport will set the benchmark for all future airports," declared
Akbar Al Baker, who is also CEO of Qatar Airways, unveiling the master
plan at a well-attended press conference on the sidelines of the World
Travel Market in London yesterday.

"It will be an international signature for the vision of Qatar. For a
visitors, the first point of contact with Qatar is generally the airport -
and it is our driving priority to ensure that the best-ever facilities
will welcome the first-time and return visitors."

The new airport will be designed as a modern transfer hub in such a way as
to transfer passengers and their baggage from aircraft to aircraft within
30 minutes.

At the end of Phase I, it will be able to accommodate two A380-800 super
jumbos at any one time and six of them when fully developed. Construction
of the new airport will begin mid-2004 with the reclamation of land from
the sea, said Akbar Al Baker.

"Detailed work on the Doha International Airport will continue throughout
2004 and 2005, as the site is reclaimed and prepared. Construction of the
new airport's major facilities will begin from 2005," he added.

He said the new airport would position Doha and Qatar as a leading
regional aviation hub for at least the next 50 years. "The airport will
also be pivotal to the continued significant growth of Qatar Airways as a
global airline. The new airport will allow us to offer our passengers fast
and efficient connections as we build a route network of at least 60
destinations by 2005-end," said Akbar.

He said the new airport's world-class airline and passenger facilities
would be an "irresistible incentive" for major international airlines to
operate through Doha which "sits astride the travel and transportation
connections between the economic powerhouses of the East and the consumers
of the West."

The first phase will include:

• Reclaiming nearly 50 per cent of the 2,200 hectare site from the sea
with 46m square metres of fill.

• One 4,850-metre runway capable of taking a fully-laden A380-800.

• One 4,250-metre runway

• A 130,000 square metre three-storey terminal with 24 Contact Gates, two
of which will cater to the A380-800.

• At least seven Remote Gates.

• An airport hotel adjacent to the terminal, and one 100-room hotel within
the terminal for transit passengers.

• More than 25,000 square metres of retail facilities and lounges.

• Am Emiri Terminal complex for VIP flights.

• Multi-storey short-term and long-term parking

• An Aircraft Maintenance Centre with hangars to accommodate two A380-800s
and three A340s at any one time.

• A cargo facility with a capacity of 750,000 tonnes per year and eight
hardstand aircraft parking bays.

• General aviation terminal and hangar.

• A courier and mail facility.

• A free trade zone and business park.

• A new Qatar Airways' headquarter building.

• New Qatar Airways' training facilities that will include flight simulators.

• Three road interchanges to access the new airport from Ras Abu Aboud road.

The second, or mid-term phase of the new airport development will include:

• The addition of a further 16 Contact Gates and five Remote Gates. Of the
total 40 Contact Gates, four will cater to A380-800s.

• Extension of the terminal building to 219,000 square metres to handle 24
million passengers per year.

• A 'People Mover' or suspended monorail that will transport passengers
through the terminal.

• An additional 100-room hotel for transit passengers

The final or third phase of the project will include:

• The additional of another 40 Contact Gates, so that the terminal will
have a total of 80 Contact Gates - six of them catering to A380-800s.

• The further expansion of the terminal building to 416,000 square metres
to handle 50 million passengers a year.

Meanwhile, until the new airport is opened, the existing airport will be
significantly upgraded to handle the increase in passenger growth.

"We, at Qatar Airways, have already announced a $38m programme to upgrade
the terminal this year, as part of a broader $140m programme to increase
the annual handling capacity of the airport from 4.2 million to 7.5
million passengers," he said.



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