HIA expansion to be over ahead of time: Baker
Qatar Tribune
Satyendra Pathak Doha The expansion work of Hamad International Airport will be completed one month ahead of the schedule in September next year, Qatar Air...
Satyendra PathakDohaThe expansion work of Hamad International Airport will be completed one month ahead of the schedule in September next year, Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker said on Thursday.Talking to media persons at a press conference on the occasion of the 54th annual general meeting of the Arab Air Carriers Organisation (AACO) in Doha, Baker said, âWhen it comes to the expansion of Hamad International Airport, we are on target. We are on course to increase our capacity by 20 million passengers to cater to over 58 million passengers prior to 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.ââIt is a world-class facility that we are putting up and as a matter of fact, we donât want to be number two anymore. We want to be always the best airport in the world. And this is what we will deliver when we open the expansion that is supposed to be completed by September next year,â he said.âAt the moment we are one month ahead of schedule. We measure the performance of our contractors very closely and we make sure that we are not going to sleep even considering that we were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,â he said.About the number of visitors during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he said, âWe are expecting more than 1.5 million people to visit Qatar during 2022 FIFA World Cup. We will stick to all the undertakings we have given to FIFA. We will give them an experience that will be second to none,â he said.âWe are also promoting tourism in Qatar aggressively. Qatar is really the best-kept secret. We have so much to offer to tourists. But we have not been really reflecting the potential of our country. Now, this is my job as the chairman of the tourism authority together with my job as the carrier of people to my country,â he said.Qatar Airways is the only airline that never stopped its operation despite the pandemic, he said adding that the airline increased its frequencies to many destinations during the pandemic. About the impact of the fuel price hike on Qatar Airways, he said, âYes there will be fuel price rise and we are fully prepared to deal with it as we dealt in the past when fuel prices were high. We are fully prepared for whatever will be the circumstances.ââQatar Airways is known for making the right decision and we will go for any opportunity that is right. We are one of the very few airlines that are performing very well despite the pandemic,â he said.âQatar Airways will continue to expand. We have not stopped. We shrank to around 130 destinations, down from 180 destinations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will again go back to 180 destinations in the not too distant future. Unfortunately, we had an issue where a lot of our Airbus A350 aircraft were grounded that put a lot of strain on our operations. This is why we have decided to operate Airbus A380 aircraft to fill the capacity gap we have,â he said.Earlier in the day, addressing the AACO CEO Panel on the need for a more coordinated cross-industry approach to achieve sustainability goals, Baker said, âOil companies need to step up the process to supply more sustainable aviation fuel.âHe added: âAs the aviation industry continues to navigate some of the most uncertain market conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, there has never been a more critical moment to come together as a unified voice on the path to recovery.â