The opening of Doha’s new international airport, which had been due to take place on April 1, has been postponed “following an announcement by Qatar's Civil Aviation Authority”.
The facility, originally known as New Doha International airport, has been dogged by delays, and had been due to open on December 12, 2012, a date which was pushed back to the start of April.
The airport had looked set to meet this new deadline, and had announced the 12 carriers which would initially operate under a soft opening phase.
But in scenes reminiscent of the last-minute postponement of Berlin’s new airport last year, the facility announced that the soft opening would not be going ahead as planned.
A short statement posted on the airport’s website currently advises:
“The soft opening of Hamad International Airport scheduled for 1st April, 2013 was postponed following an announcement by Qatar's Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA). A future date will be communicated by QCAA.”
Visit dohaairport.com.
Report by Mark Caswell