Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar, is situated on the coast of the Arabian Gulf. It features two runways, maintenance hangars, a VIP terminal, a cargo terminal and a passenger terminal with food and beverage, retail and other support facilities.
Hamad International Airport (HIA), the airport developer, announced an expansion plan for the airport in October 2019. The project will expand the existing passenger terminal complex with more e-gates, new duty-free and passenger amenity areas and a remote transfer baggage facility.
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The terminal expansion is being undertaken in two phases: Phase A and Phase B. Phase A involved the construction of a central concourse that interlinks concourses D and E. The construction of Phase A began in 2020 and was completed in November 2022.
Phase B will extend the D and E concourses and increase the passenger capacity of the airport to more than 70 million passengers a year. Construction on Phase B expansion commenced in January 2023.
The terminal expansion will deliver a modern look to the airport and set new standards for passenger experience.
Hamad International Airport terminal expansion details
Hamad International Airport’s terminal expansion has been designed to integrate the new facilities with the existing three-storey terminal building.
Phase A of the Hamad International Airport terminal expansion project increased the terminal space to 125,000m², added a 10,000m² indoor tropical garden named ORCHARD in a new central concourse and a 268m² water feature.
The ceiling of the ORCHARD tropical garden is designed with a long-span 85m grid shell roof. The column-free roof structure integrates performance glass for controlling and filtering the light required by the trees.
The garden features different flora and includes more than 300 trees and 25,000 plants sourced from sustainable forests from around the world.
An 11,720m² retail, food and beverages area was also a part of the expansion. The retail space is home to more than 65 retail and dining outlets spread across three floors. Some of the luxury brands are part of the retail space including Dior, Thom Brown, Ray Ban, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Burberry, Tiffany and Co. and Bulgari.
In addition, a 100-room Oryx Garden Hotel located within the transfer area was developed. The hotel boasts of a spa, a fitness centre and a 25m swimming pool, The expansion also added four new lounges, namely Al Mourjan business lounge – The Garden, Gold and Platinum Lounge, Oryx Lounge and Al Maha Lounge.
Phase A of the expansion, which was completed in time for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, also included the development of a new transfer area on Concourse C to reduce connection times for passengers. Furthermore, the central concourse features nine additional stands for wide-body aircraft.
The airport expansion also includes the development of a remote transfer baggage facility.
Other developments at the international airport
The project will see the construction of a cargo terminal to increase the cargo handling capacity of the airport to 3.2 million tonnes per year. The new terminal will be an 85,000m² multi-level building with 323,000m² of gross floor area. It will help the operator to accommodate the anticipated surge in freight traffic.
Contractors involved at Hamad
US-based construction consulting company Hill International was contracted to provide construction and project management services for the Hamad International Airport terminal expansion project in May 2019.
Project management and engineering services company Meinhardt is responsible for providing the design and engineering services for the terminal expansion as well as an underground services tunnel, utilities and a substructure to link the satellite terminal in future.
Global engineering and professional services provider WSP was selected to provide a detailed master plan for future expansion of the airside and landside facilities of the airport. It will deliver engineering, security, transport and dedicated aviation planning and design services as part of the contract.
AECOM, an infrastructure consulting corporation, was contracted to provide programme management services for the cargo facility and other flight facilities.
A joint venture of construction companies Midmac Contracting, TAV Tepe Akfen Investment Construction and Taisei Corporation was contracted to undertake early works for the expansion project in November 2019.
WT Middle East, a cost management services provider, was contracted to provide cost consulting, quantity surveying and cost management services.
BEUMER Group, an intralogistics solutions provider, was awarded a contract to supply and install the baggage handling system.
Construction companies involved in the expansion include Al Jaber Engineering, Urbacon Trading & Contracting, Bahadir Construction, Tedeschia Construction Enterprises, Consolidated Contractors Company and Teyseer Contracting Company.
Other contractors involved in the project are metal and glass contractor Glassline Industries, construction material testing company ACES Doha, finishing and construction products supplier Monneli, scaffolding manufacturer AFIX Group and Engineering Consultants Group, an engineering consultancy.
Ash & Lacy, a metal building envelope systems manufacturer, WJ Groundwater, a dewatering and groundwater management company, D.G. Jones and Partners, a construction consultancy firm and DSP DOHA, an architectural stainless steel company, are also involved in the HIA project.
