To help cope with demand for the upcoming Fifa worldcup (kick off in 52 days), Qatar reopened the old Doha International airport

https://airwaysmag.com/doha-two-airport ... cdJsrxnBZU

Apparently, accommodations is also so much of an issue that they intend to have many fans stay in neighboring countries and fly them to Qatar for games...

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/2 ... -world-cup

When you have deep pockets nothings an issue…

Curious why the new airport can’t handle the additional demand during the World Cup.


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EK413 wrote:

When you have deep pockets nothings an issue…

Curious why the new airport can’t handle the additional demand during the World Cup.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It might be to avoid the World Cup traffic from interfering the normal operation of DOH.

EK413 wrote:

When you have deep pockets nothings an issue…

Curious why the new airport can’t handle the additional demand during the World Cup.

This was always the plan. The old airport never closed but rather closed to scheduled passenger traffic. It remained operational, so reopening the passenger terminal isn't a big task. It probably needed a significant cleaning.

The challenge is that Hamad International Airport is mostly designed for a very high proportion of transit passengers. It doesn't have the capacity to scale up the landside infrastructure like check-in, baggage claim, security, etc. Rather than build new capacity for this that would be once-off, they're using facilities next door. They had originally planned to demolish the terminal at the old airport, but kept it specifically for the World Cup. It'll probably be demolished or repurposed after the World Cup.

That is something I hadn't thought of re transit vs originating pax. Clever to utilise the facility that is already there.

Toinou wrote:

Apparently, accommodations is also so much of an issue that they intend to have many fans stay in neighboring countries and fly them to Qatar for games...

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/2 ... -world-cup

I wonder how the organisers will spin the "sustainability" aspect of this. I can just picture Greta screaming "HOW DARE YOU!!!"

As mentioned above, one major issue is lack of hotel availability. As in, Doha is completely and 100% sold out for the duration of the WC and has been so for many months now. This means people will have to stay over in Bahrain, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and anywhere else there’s rooms available. That again necessitates a huge airborne shuttle operation every single day, which Hamad would never be able to cope with. But the old airport, repurposed for just this occasion, will be.

So it’s actually not all that stupid, the big question is of course how many fans will make the journey. Preliminary numbers from my country are extremely low, as in magnitudes lower than when the WC was held in South Africa or Brazil, both of which were more expensive propositions. Seems that, at least some, fans are boycotting the WC; and that’s certainly commendable. I’ll do my part, utterly insignificant as it is, by only watching the matches my country participate in. I know, it’s stupid.

I love flying, not sure I would want to do it as method of public transport from hotel to stadium. Just another reason this decision was so stupid. I myself will probably completely ignore it. Roll on to the next one where I will definitely be attending, as nearest games will only be 4 hours away.

I heard that motorhomes rental in Doha are booming for a while since hotel rates skyrocketed as well. Add to this the ability to move by yourself from stadium A to B with no airport waiting times and usual annoying and voilá!

ojjunior wrote:

I heard that motorhomes rental in Doha are booming for a while since hotel rates skyrocketed as well. Add to this the ability to move by yourself from stadium A to B with no airport waiting times and usual annoying and voilá!

I'm guessing you havent researched or been to Qatar before? You most definitely arent moving a motorhome from Stadium A to B. The stadiums are 35 miles apart from the furthest and most are within 8-10 miles of eachother. In the middle of Doha. You arent going to be driving a motorhome from one to the next. Or anywhere in Doha.

Breathe wrote:

Toinou wrote:

Apparently, accommodations is also so much of an issue that they intend to have many fans stay in neighboring countries and fly them to Qatar for games...

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/2 ... -world-cup

I wonder how the organisers will spin the "sustainability" aspect of this. I can just picture Greta screaming "HOW DARE YOU!!!"

This is not unusual. This happens at every major tournament where charter flights bring in fans just for the game and leave right after the game. Heck, every single Champions League game that requires some travel sees these flights. For the WC in Brazil there were charter flights from Europe and back. Don't be surprised to see the same single day charters from Europe/Africa/Asia to Qatar considering it's half the distance than to Brazil.

Are cruise ships part of the accommodation plan?

cskok8 wrote:

Are cruise ships part of the accommodation plan?

yes the completely new MSC Europa, I booked the second cruises on her after the World Cup charter.

enterusername wrote:

ojjunior wrote:

I heard that motorhomes rental in Doha are booming for a while since hotel rates skyrocketed as well. Add to this the ability to move by yourself from stadium A to B with no airport waiting times and usual annoying and voilá!

I'm guessing you havent researched or been to Qatar before? You most definitely arent moving a motorhome from Stadium A to B. The stadiums are 35 miles apart from the furthest and most are within 8-10 miles of eachother. In the middle of Doha. You arent going to be driving a motorhome from one to the next. Or anywhere in Doha.

Wouldn't you die of a heat stroke in the motorhome ?

Aesma wrote:

enterusername wrote:

ojjunior wrote:

I heard that motorhomes rental in Doha are booming for a while since hotel rates skyrocketed as well. Add to this the ability to move by yourself from stadium A to B with no airport waiting times and usual annoying and voilá!

I'm guessing you havent researched or been to Qatar before? You most definitely arent moving a motorhome from Stadium A to B. The stadiums are 35 miles apart from the furthest and most are within 8-10 miles of eachother. In the middle of Doha. You arent going to be driving a motorhome from one to the next. Or anywhere in Doha.

Wouldn't you die of a heat stroke in the motorhome ?

Here in the U.S. motorhomes have A/C and can plug-in to the grid so I would expect the same in Qatar.

airbazar wrote:

Breathe wrote:

Toinou wrote:

Apparently, accommodations is also so much of an issue that they intend to have many fans stay in neighboring countries and fly them to Qatar for games...

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/2 ... -world-cup

I wonder how the organisers will spin the "sustainability" aspect of this. I can just picture Greta screaming "HOW DARE YOU!!!"

This is not unusual. This happens at every major tournament where charter flights bring in fans just for the game and leave right after the game. Heck, every single Champions League game that requires some travel sees these flights. For the WC in Brazil there were charter flights from Europe and back. Don't be surprised to see the same single day charters from Europe/Africa/Asia to Qatar considering it's half the distance than to Brazil.

No. What I am referring to is that fans who are travelling for the duration (or at least group stage) of the tournament are having to stay outside of Qatar due to not being able to find accommodation in the country. The organisers made a song and dance about the sustainability of hosting the tournament in the country in that there would be less distance between the venues, more environmentally friendly.