Moscowflyer

I was on a London-Doha-Hong Kong itinerary at the end of last week (first time in a long while on QR and I thought it was very good). One thing that struck me as odd is when we arrived off the London-Doha flight (which arrived on schedule) and stepped off the jetbridge, passengers terminating in Doha were directed up an escalator to the floor above. Those of us transiting (the majority I assume) followed a sign pointing to the left saying 'Connections" and were directed through a large door held open by a member of staff which took us straight into the departures area. So quick was it that I had time for a coffee in the lounge even with quite a short transit, which was a nice surprise.

My question for the more frequent QR is whether this is the usual procedure - to skip transfer security at Doha and go straight to departures (it wasn't on the outward flight connecting from HK to London at Doha). Admittedly we had come from London which has reasonably thorough security (but so does Hong Kong). Did Qatar take the view that London's security checks are good enough for them and let everyone through or was this just an unusual event?

mpkz

No, certain flights are exempt (you could have searched, multiple posts about this here), the flights are chosen daily, but for instance not all London flights are.

Most people still go through their transit security, which is a mess, with long lines and probably the least thorough checks ever. It's only fairly recently that they started demanding people take out their laptops. Our moderator here claims they have some super sophisticated secret security system (I'm sure they also claim to have one), but I'm not buying it. In a way, it's kind of worrying, but then again...

b74l

Of almost a dozen DOH transits on QR the past 18 months, only once did I experience this .. and was it ever a pleasant surprise..the flight was CDG - DOH - BKK. I had flown CDG - DOH-Asia many time and this was the only time experienced this.

I honestly thought it was a mistake that the exit door to the terminal was open because not all were exiting that way..it was more like a mad rush A380 mob scene and the door kept hitting everyone! But it was a nice surprise. Pretty rare where I have seen no security needed for transit at an INTL airport anyways.

Moscowflyer

Thanks very much, very helpful to know. I agree, it was a pleasant surprise (although I found transfer security on the way between HK and London to be quite quick, maybe it helps being in business or maybe my single experience was a good one but good to know it can sometimes take a while).
As I say I was quite impressed with QR, it made a nice change from CX with which I am increasingly frustrated as they head downmarket (and QR was considerably cheaper on the route as well) so I will be back.

natcin

during my flight SIN-DOH-LCA a few months back, it was the same as well. was pleasantly surprised, since our first leg was delayed, and i was worried we wouldnt have time to check out the lounge.

basically they had set up a desk, and were randomly asking transiting passengers to do a bag check. most of us were able to just walk directly into the departures area.

initially i had thought they did it as our flight was delayed. but seems like its not the reason since OP's flight was on time.

sexten

Just a quick notice regarding "least thorough checks" at DOH. I've been under the same impression over the years, a completely useless security check. However, over the past months they have actually CHECKED my bag (which is filled with cables, adaptert, HDs etc.) when I go through.

Dr. HFH

They rarely make me take my laptop out; I always assumed that, being a new airport, they had more sophisticated scanning equipment.

lost_in_translation

I have had this after flights from SIN, BRU and ARN over the last year or two, not sure if there's a pattern to the places chosen (and annoyingly two out of those three times I was on a rare stopover in DOH so didn't actually get to take advantage!)

mpkz

I also noticed that they no longer have Qataris working the machines but instead they have migrant workers, which may explain that..

remdk

mpkz there is nothing to buy! You have mixed some things together here.
As far as I know the moderators have not made any statements regarding the capabilities of the security equipment whereas I have. Several times I have stated that we do not know the capabilities of the new equipment over the last 3 years. We don't know what the equipment can do and naturally DOH security will not be telling us!

Himeno

I've been through DOH twice thus far. Once ORD-xDOH-CDG, the other DFW-xDOH-OSL.

Coming off the ORD flight, we went to the transit checkpoint and were waved through. Coming off the DFW flight, we went to the transit checkpoint and had the normal xray/WTMD screening.

mpkz

I think msm has talked about how high-tech it is

:D!

When did they have Qataris doing security? Even on my first QR flight 2 years ago the people doing the transit security checks were all Indians (or Pakistani etc, can't exactly tell) and Bantu-Africans.

mpkz

They had Qataris (in military/border control attire) on the scanners with migrant workers managing the queues / getting the bags into the scanner for a long time.

corporate-wage-slave

I was able to check about 20 flights this morning. All airbridge arriving flights from the EU and USA were allowed direct transit into airside at ground level, with a ground agent holding a sign to show the same level pathway (the ceiling signs involved both Arrivals and Transit, so potentially confusing anyone not fully awake to go up the escalators unnecessarily). All bus arrivals got transit security as did non EU airbridge arriving flights including KUL, HKG, SIN and BKK.