The international airport for Qatar’s capital city, Doha, Hamad International Airport (HIA) has been recognized as the fourth best airport in the world at the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2019, which were held in London yesterday.

Home to Qatar’s national airline, Qatar Airways, the airport has been described as the most architecturally significant terminal complex in the world, in addition to being the most luxurious.

Congratulations to @HIAQatar for picking up prestigious honours at the 2019 Skytrax World Airport Awards: Fourth best airport in the world, Best Staff in the Middle East, Best Airport in the Middle East, and renews its 5-star Skytrax rating. pic.twitter.com/95yGHk55uX

— Qatar Airways (@qatarairways) March 27, 2019

HIA has become a genuine gateway to the world serving over 36,000 flights and 30 million passengers each year.

The airport jumped a spot up in the Skytrax ranking of The World’s Top 10 Airports from number fifth in 2018 to number fourth this year.

Preceding HIA for the first, second and third spot in the ranking are Singapore's Changi Airport, Japan's Tokyo International Airport, and South Korea's Incheon International Airport, respectively. 

Gulf Times reported that HIA has once again been ranked as a five-star Airport and secured the title of ‘Best Airport in the Middle East’ for the fifth year in a row and ‘Best Staff Service in the Middle East’ for the fourth year in a row.

Moreover, the airport was also marked as the sixth best in the world for airport dining as well as for cleanliness, in the Skytrax airport rankings for 2019.

The awards, which recognize HIA’s innovative facilities, five-star customer service and state-of-the-art terminal, are based on nominations from millions of passengers across more than 500 participating airports worldwide, making them one of largest passenger interaction survey awards in the world, reported The Peninsula.

“We are committed to raising the bar when it comes to the airport experience and will continue to invest in our facilities, services and technologies that distinguish us as the airport of choice for millions of passengers around the world,” HIA Chief Operating Officer Engineer Badr Mohamed Al Meer said.

The Skytrax survey evaluates customer satisfaction across 39 key performance indicators for airport service and product comprising check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security and immigration, through to departure at the gate, according to Qatar Tribune.

The awards ceremony was held in parallel to The Passenger Terminal Expo & Conference 2019, which is the largest annual airport exhibition and airport-networking event in the world.

The second phase of HIA’s expansion plan, launched in early 2019, will accommodate a capacity of 53mn passengers annually by 2022 as well as an increase in cargo capacity to 3mn tonnes per year.

Additionally, improvements in operational efficiency will be seen in increased automation to allow 50% of passengers to perform self check-in, increase in airspace capacity, and optimized baggage-handling processes.

The expansion plans are part of Qatar’s preparations to host the 2022 World Cup where the country will witness a large number of visitors to the top global sporting event.

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