Qatar Wants to Rival Dubai as Hub with New Airport

December 8, 2003

Qatar Wants to Rival Dubai as Hub with New Airport 
Channel News Asia, Singapore
 
DUBAI - Qatar announced on Sunday it will soon invite tenders for more than 
US$2.5 billion in contracts to start building a new Doha airport which it 
envisions as a major travel hub to rival and even surpass Dubai.

"Construction companies will soon be able to bid for more than US$2.5 billion 
worth of tenders for the first phase of Qatar's new signature airport," the 
chief executive of Qatar's Airways, Akbar al-Baker, told a press conference on 
the opening day of the Dubai air show.

He said phase one with a capacity of 12 million passengers a year would be 
completed in 2008.

The new airport "needs to set new standards and needs to be more than an 
ordinary transfer point but part of a fantastic travel experience," said Baker, 
whose company operates the current airport.

The plan for the 2,200 hectare airport was drawn up by US engineering giant 
Bechtel.

It calls for a large area of land to be reclaimed from the sea and the 
construction of two parallel runways and 25 contact gates.

Baker said a second phase which would lift the airport's capacity to 50 million 
passengers a year would by completed by 2015.

He said Qatar's ambitions were backed by the emirate's growing economy - it 
boasts the world's third largest natural gas reserves - and aviation market.-
 
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