By Salman Siddiqui/Staff Reporter

The facilities at the new Hamad International Airport (HIA) are world-class. There is a luxury spa, gym, squash courts and even a swimming pool as part of the transit hotel in the South Node.

“We are changing the traditional concept of airport planning and offering a new concept in line with Qatar’s authentic Arab tradition,” Abdulaziz Mohamed al-Noaimi, chairman, New Doha International Airport (NDIA) Project Steering Committee, told a press conference yesterday.

Many facilities are provided to meet passengers’ needs, allowing transit passengers to relax and find comfort between trips and guests in Qatar to start an unforgettable tourism experience, he explained.

In the media tour given yesterday, an official said that the transit hotel has 100 rooms, including suites that will be increased to 200 rooms when another hotel opens up at the opposite node.

If passengers have time to spare in transit at HIA, they can for a fee take a dip at the huge swimming pool or just choose to relax in a spa. The sporty passengers also have the option to play squash at three courts.

The luxurious swimming pool.

There are also five ‘Activity Nodes’ in the South Node of the passenger terminal each of which have lively, interactive spaces with relaxed seating, art installations, Wifi, computers and television screens for passengers and their families to relax while waiting for their flights. These nodes are free to use.

There are also plenty of art installations at the airport. Some of the artists, whose sculptures have been featured include Tom Otterness, Ahmed Bahrani and the giant yellow teddy bear in the Duty Free Section by Urs Fischer.

One of the new features at the massive Passenger Terminal complex is a train station fitted with an Automated People Mover (APM).

The APM covers a distance of over 500m at a cruising speed of 45kph connecting the North and South Nodes of the terminal. It has two five-car trains with a capacity of 6,000 passengers per hour per direction and has a section dedicated to transfer passengers to speed connections between different sections of the terminal, helping to facilitate the 30-minute minimum connect time.

The airport has about 28,750 sq m areas of food and beverage, retail, ATMs/currency exchanges as well as other amenities spread across the terminal.

Retail shopping includes branded boutique shops, chocolates, cigars, liquor, tobacco, cosmetics, fragrances, accessories, luggage, sports goods, children’s stores, jewellery, apparel and high end luxury goods

The Baggage Handling System (BHS) also uses the latest technology for security screening, storage, sorting and transportation of departure and transfer baggage as well as handling arrival baggage.

It has one of the world’s largest installations of hybrid RFID systems combined with barcode scanners. The hybrid scanners increase security, provide faster transfer times and minimise the numbers of lost or misrouted items.

An official of the Heimann X-Ray team said that they were using the most cutting edge technology in the world that can detect any type of explosive or hazardous devices on a passenger or baggage through their systems at the airport. About 375 such systems are in place throughout the airport.

The passenger terminal complex is 600,000sq m and in its full build out would have five concourses and 65 contact gates. The initial capacity of this terminal is 30mn passengers yearly, going up to 50mn in its full capacity.