Simple Flying
Justin Hayward
Plenty of large cities around the world have two or more airports. These have often been built at different times, with larger airports introduced further from the city as aviation volume increased. They can also serve different regional areas. Doha, Qatar, is slightly unusual in that it has two large airports adjacent to each other to the southwest of the city. The new one was opened as aviation, particularly with Qatar Airways, expanded dramatically.
The first airport, Doha International Airport, opened in 1959. It replaced a third airport – Durkhan Aiport – which operated from the 1930s and was located much further from the city.
Construction on a new airport began in 2005, at a site just five kilometers to the east of the original Doha International Airport. It was designed with Qatar Airways’ model very much in mind and allows for significant future expansion. It is owned by the Qatar government but operated by Qatar Airways.
