November 20, 2022 is the kick-off for the World Cup in Qatar. This is one of the reasons why Doha International Airport (DIA) will be reactivated for regular scheduled services. The “old airport” in the capital of Qatar was extensively renovated and modernized beforehand.

Those responsible assume that the "new airport" Hamad International Airport (DOH), which is also the hub of Qatar Airways, will not be able to cope with the large number of visitors expected on its own. Therefore, the "DIA" should serve as a relief. The first airlines that will at least temporarily move to the "old airport" are already known. These are Jazeera Airways, Salam Air, Pegasus Air and Air Arabia. The first two airlines mentioned will continue to use the DOH.

Doha Hamad Airport was actually built as a successor to Doha International. The DIA was last used in 2014 as part of regular scheduled services. However, it never went offline because military use continued. The royal family also uses this airport as a flying home base. Business jet operators have been advised to fly to this airport.

"Old" Airport has been extensively modernized and expanded

Qatar announced very early on that the "old airport" would be modernized for the World Cup and will then accept scheduled and charter flights again. This is intended to relieve the “new airport” Doha-Hamad. So far, however, it was not known which airlines will use the DIA. The first providers have now come out, although it can be expected that there will be significantly more.

The background is that many charter flights are expected around the football World Cup. These should preferably take off and land at the DIA, but can also use the DOH depending on availability. Not all special flights have been registered yet, because some will be canceled at short notice depending on the performance of certain teams.

The airport, which was last served by passenger airlines in 2014, is currently used by the royal family, VIPs, the Qatar Air Force and others. While it has long been known that it will complement Hamad International Airport, until now it has not been clear which airlines will use it.

Capacity for 53 million passengers per year

Doha International Airport has been expanded to handle 53 million passengers per year. Initially, this will serve as a relief airport during the soccer World Cup, but will not be taken off the grid afterwards. It is currently hoped that some low-cost airlines will decide to move permanently to the DIA. This would permanently create more space at the DOH for the announced growth of Qatar Airways and at the same time one could attract more guests to Qatar with low-cost airlines and achieve further growth in this segment.

However, it remains to be seen how many airlines will actually move temporarily or permanently to the "old airport" and which new carriers will decide to fly to Doha. In any case, the agreement between Qatar and the European Union would offer some possibilities. Currently, the low-cost airline Wizz Air focuses more on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Doha is currently not on the route network, but this low-coster has long been said to have ambitions that “if the opportunity arises”, Qatar could possibly also be included in the route network.