Qatar could add a second terminal to its new airport ahead of the 2022 Fifa World Cup if passenger growth outpaces projections, according to the chief executive of the national carrier.
The disclosure coincides with the opening of the long-delayed US$17 billion Hamad International Airport and comes as Qatar Airways prepares to disclose financial information.
“We have space at the airport for a second terminal to cope with additional demand,” said the Qatar Airways chief executive, Akbar Al Baker. “But we will only have a second terminal if we feel demand is moving ahead of the capacity of the airport.”
The carrier is this month transferring operations to Hamad International Airport. The new hub is designed to accommodate 30 million passengers annually, rising to 50 million at full capacity. But if expanded, it could cope with as many as 80 million passengers.
Qatar Airways became a member of the oneworld global alliance network last year, the only Arabian Gulf carrier to have become part of such a global group. It is considering sharing revenues with some of those partners including British Airways.
Mr Al Baker revealed that the airline was also preparing to disclose financial information.
“Once the last financial year audit is complete we will tell you how much we make,” he told reporters.
However, he declined to say whether the company would publish its full financial performance or just selected numbers.
The carrier could be ready to disclose details before the third quarter of the year, Mr Al Baker told reporters at the Arabian Travel Market yesterday.
He also said that Qatar Airways had been fully owned by the emirate’s government since last July, when the Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund, bought out the half-stake held by private investors including a former prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim.
Like its regional rivals, Qatar Airways is adding capacity to funnel more global passenger traffic through its Doha hub with more than 300 aircraft on order worth about US$60 billion including the Boeing 787 and 777X. It expects to take delivery of 80 A350 Airbus planes this year. It currently operates 131 aircraft to 137 destinations and plans to add at least another seven through July.
The airline yesterday confirmed it expected to receive its first Airbus A380-800 by early next month, with another 12 to follow. That order for superjumbos could be increased according to Mr Al Baker, who declined to give further details.
Qatar Airways will introduce a new all-business class service to London Heathrow from May 15 with an Airbus A319 aircraft. It is also gearing up to launch domestic operations in Saudi Arabia with its new Al Maha carrier scheduled to start flying in November. It expects to have 10 A320 aircraft in service within the first year of domestic operation. It also expects to win consent to operate international flights through its new unit once its domestic operation is established, Mr Al Baker said.
Qatar Airways, Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways are together rapidly increasing flight connections into Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, creating growing air traffic control problems. That is demanding greater cooperation between regional regulators to free up more air space currently earmarked for military use.
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
Conservative MPs who have publicly revealed sending letters of no confidence
- Steve Baker
- Peter Bone
- Ben Bradley
- Andrew Bridgen
- Maria Caulfield
- Simon Clarke
- Philip Davies
- Nadine Dorries
- James Duddridge
- Mark Francois
- Chris Green
- Adam Holloway
- Andrea Jenkyns
- Anne-Marie Morris
- Sheryll Murray
- Jacob Rees-Mogg
- Laurence Robertson
- Lee Rowley
- Henry Smith
- Martin Vickers
- John Whittingdale
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo and dual electric motors
Power: 300hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 520Nm at 1,500-3,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.0L/100km
Price: from Dh199,900
On sale: now
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales
Najlaa Khoury, Archipelago Books
Mobile phone packages comparison
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
RESULT
Manchester City 5 Swansea City 0
Man City: D Silva (12'), Sterling (16'), De Bruyne (54' ), B Silva (64' minutes), Jesus (88')
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
