About DOH airport
Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Qatar opened in May 2014 as a major international hub and home base for Qatar Airways completely replacing the old Doha International Airport (DIA).
The official IATA abbreviation for the airport is DOH.
The vast majority of passengers are transiting through DOH, changing flights. The baggage handling system is efficient and geared to a rapid baggage transfer time (20-30 minutes from aircraft to aircraft has been named). Your baggage will often be loaded before you board.
Here we will look mostly at facilities for passengers transferring between flights.
I have just landed at DOH. What do I do?
The Minimum permitted Connection Time (MCT) at DOH is 45 minutes. Here We will regard any connection under 90 minutes as a
'Short connection' and anything over 5 hours as a '
Long connection'. For other connection times the contents of the 'Long connections' will be the most useful.
Are there any lounges?
There are a number of '
Lounges' available to QR and Oneworld premium class passengers and PC and Oneworld status passengers.
Do QR provide accommodation for transfer passengers?
If your transfer is eight hours or more and there is no shorter connection then you may qualify for STopover Paid by Carrier (
STPC).
What about shopping and food?
There are numerous retail and food outlets. Most are open 24 hours every day. These are mostly collected together around the South and North nodes of the airport with some dotted around in other places.
Can I leave the airport?
Yes. There are several ways of doing this.
If you have accommodation provided by QR (
STPC) they will usually accommodate you at a hotel near the old airport and will provide a Free tourist Visa.
If you take the free
City bus tour then you will be provided with a free tourist visa for the tour.
You can apply for a
free tourist visa up to 30 days prior to your requiring it and make your own tour of Doha.
For a number of countries you can purchase a visa on arrival and make your own tour.
What about resting at the airport?
There is an airside
Airport Hotel and there are relaxation/rest rooms in Al Safwa and Al Mourjan lounges .
There are supposed to be several quiet areas and communal relaxation areas with recliners in the airport. The best one is apparently quite well hidden behind a childrens play area somewhere in Wing C.
Are there Other facilities?
Yes – many. But they are not mentioned here. If the need arises then they will be included.
Are there any Maps available?
In spite of errors the best overview map of the airport is
https://www.oneworld.com/documents/1...=1423215902000. The map has two gates B7, two gates C5 and the D and E gates are not numbered. Bus gates are not shown either.
The bus gates are located one floor down as follows: C20-C29 just by Gate C10, D20-24 and E20-24 are situated at the confluence of the C, D and E wings at the North node.
airport/maps contains Numerous downloadable maps of different parts of the airport.
Under Development!
Your comments, suggestions etc. Welcome.