Doha International Airport opened in 1959 replacing Dukhan Airport, which was built in the 1930s and located west of Doha. The airport suffered from overutilization, even though it had been expanded numerous times. Before the opening of the new airport, the capacity stood at 12 million passengers per year. Its runway was one of the longest at a civil airport. It was the main base of Qatar Airways. In the past, the airport was mostly used by Qatari holiday makers and foreign workers coming for the oil and gas sector. As Qatar Airways expanded rapidly, the airport grew and attracted more people such as holiday makers and transit travelers. In 2010, it was the world's 27th busiest airport by cargo traffic. The control tower and ancillary buildings were designed by Curtis W. Fentress, FAIA, RIBA of Fentress Architects. All scheduled commercial air traffic serving this airport moved to the new Hamad International Airport on 27 May 2014. The new airport is located east of the former facility. It covers of land and was able to handle 29 million passengers per year on opening day. The old airport was planned to be demolished, but will be refurbished and reopened for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Terminals
Departure and Transfer Terminal
This was the main terminal at Doha and handled all economy class Qatar Airways flights, as well as all other airlines using the airport. This terminal was expanded several times in order to cope with the increasing number of passengers using the airport each year. The terminal had 44 satellite gates, as well as seating areas and a large duty-free area. There were 3 lounges in this terminal, including the Oryx Lounge, which was used by all foreign airlines' premium passengers, The Qatar Airways Gold Lounge, which was used by Qatar Airways Gold Privilege Club members, and the Qatar Airways Silver Lounge, used by Qatar Airways silver privilege club card holders. This terminal had been expanded as the old Arrivals Terminal was integrated into the departures terminal, while a new arrival terminal was opened. All departing and transferring passengers used this facility, as passengers arriving into Doha used the new Arrivals Terminal. The Departure and Transfer Terminal opened an additional 12 boarding positions located between the terminal and the Premium Terminal gates, as well as a revamped Oryx lounge to cater for the increase in passenger numbers. The passenger facilities featured 60 check-in counters, 42 parking bays for aircraft and 8 baggage claim belts.
Terminal A
Terminal A of the Departure and Transfer Terminal was the check-in area used by the airport's biggest user, Qatar Airways, as well as Cathay Pacific, which operated a codeshare with Qatar Airways to Hong Kong under a strategic partnership agreement.
Terminal B
In June 2011 Terminal B, built on the location of the former arrivals terminal at Doha International Airport, was dedicated to more than 30 foreign airlines operating services from Doha. The terminal included an enlarged check-in area with 35 counters and a new baggage handling system, as well as food outlets. All foreign airlines were moved to Terminal B.
Arrivals Terminal
On 19 December 2010, a new Arrival Terminal was opened in the western apron, in the site of the former Asian Games temporary terminal. The terminal had a capacity of 2,770 passengers per hour. The Arrivals Terminal replaced the arrivals hall of what became the Departure and Transfer Terminal. The Arrivals Terminal had 22 immigration counters, eight e-gates, eight baggage carousels, 36 concierge desks for hotel transfers, car rental and other services, as well as 746 parking spaces. The former arrivals hall was merged with the departing hall, adding extra valuable space and capacity to the airport. These changes were part of the multimillion-dollar expansion of Doha Airport to cope with the increasing traffic of Qatar Airways and other airlines before the new Hamad International Airport opened in 2014.
Qatar Airways Premium Terminal
The Qatar Airways Premium Terminal was opened in 2006 and handled all Qatar Airways first and business class passengers. There were 6 gates in this terminal.
Airlines and destinations
The airport shut down for commercial traffic on 27 May 2014 when all airlines relocated to its successor. The last commercial flight departing from Doha International Airport was by Lufthansa to Frankfurt at 00:30 on 28 May.
Statistics
Since 1998, the number of passengers and total cargo load increased significantly.
