With Eid Al Adha holidays just around the corner and most people gearing up for their Eid travels, officials at Hamad International Airport (HIA) have issued some travel advice to help make people's travel experience more enjoyable.  

If you've been in Doha long enough, you may already be aware that this is one of the busiest travel periods of the year. 

To avoid the long queues at the airport, HIA is asking those who are flying out of Doha during this period to check-in online and arrive at the airport at least three hours ahead of departure.

HIA is also suggesting that those who are registered to use the facility of e-gates should do so to steer away from entering long queues at the immigration desks.  

Passengers traveling through HIA are reminded that check-in closes 60 minutes before departure time.

Passengers are also asked to ensure that they are not carrying any prohibited items such as liquids, aerosols, and gels and to pack any liquid containers in a clear, re-sealable plastic bag with each being 100ml or less to allow a smooth experience through security checks at the airport.

For those who require baggage wrapping service, new centers for this purpose are located near row 3 and 10 at the airport. 

For X-ray screening, HIA reminds passengers that any electronic items larger than mobile phones must be removed from bags and placed in the trays available at the screening points. 

Small vehicles powered by lithium batteries, such as hoverboards, are prohibited for carriage.

HIA is also advising passengers to minimize traveling with pets due to the holiday peak time.

For the convenience and safety of passengers returning from Eid and summer holidays during the busy peak period, access to the arrival and departure curbsides will be restricted to authorized vehicles only, HIA said. 

Customers are encouraged to use the short-term car park facility during this period. 

HIA is also recommending that passengers download the ‘HIAQatar’ mobile app, available for both Andriod and iPhone, to receive updates with real-time information about flight status, baggage claim, time and direction to boarding gates and food, beverage and retail offers from Qatar Duty-Free (QDF).

Earlier in July, HIA had reported serving a total of 9.38mn passengers in the second quarter of 2019, which has become the busiest second quarter the airport has ever witnessed. 

Qatar’s airport successfully introduced the first phase of its ‘Smart Airport program’ to accommodate the rising passenger traffic. 

Under this phase, some 62 self-service check-in kiosks and 12 self-service bag drops were set up across the terminal to allow passengers to check-in, print boarding passes, and bag tags; tag their bags, and drop them at the bag drop before proceeding to border control.

These new features contribute to enhancing the airport experience for passengers traveling through HIA by offering them control of their journey from arrival to departure. 

HIA said that up to 40 percent of passengers traveling with the home carrier Qatar Airways prefer to self-check-in and a further 20 percent opt for self-bag-drop.

Hamad International Airport was recently recognized as the second-best international airport in the world in the prestigious ‘2019 Travel + Leisure World’s Best’ awards.

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