Doha International Airport review by Marc Schoell
17 December 2006

Had a very stress-free 2 hour stopover in the new premium terminal. A very airy, pleasant facility it's anything but crowded, serves nice food (excellent vegetables) and has some nice touches such as a Playstation room for those travelling with children. Duty free is a bit sparse, though, but worth a browse. The only (potential) drawback is that the terminal is quite compact so not the best for stretching one's legs during a longer stopover.

Doha International Airport review by Pasindu Karunaratne
10 December 2006

I am currently waiting for my flight to Colombo at the new Premium Terminal of Qatar Airways in Doha. I have to say that they have done an amazing job. The service is great, in fact its better than any of the five star hotels I have been in here in Doha. The lounges are immaculate, the refreshments are superb, and the staff is extremely friendly.

Doha International Airport review by N Lindsay
23 November 2006

Passed through Doha on 1st November with a stop over of 5 hours. After reading all previous feedback, we were not looking forward to it. The airport facilities are fine. Toilets were clean, with attendants there most of the time keeping them this way. There were plenty of seats, the small food court upstairs is adequate and it was not too crowded. The information boards were easy to read, and the gate specified was the one used without any confusion ( both ways on our trip ). The only thing that we missed was the fact that there is no bar facilities but you have to respect the Muslim way of life when visiting one of these countries. Overall, we would not think twice of using Qatar Airways again, using Doha as the transfer hub. As it is more than adequate at present, we look forward to using Doha again when the new extension is completed.

Doha International Airport review by Richard Clarke
27 September 2006

This Airport is more bearable now that they have expanded the 1st floor area with the addition of some extra gates. Seating upstairs is a plenty now even during the late hours when its peak time for departures. However the chaos is still there when no one tells you of gate changes & the annoy system is woefully inadequate to hear messages. At least the airport is improving - as it has to with the Asian Games approaching. Good to see additional toilets & recommend you use the ones upstairs which are cleaner - if you are lucky enough the new Business Class lounge has a couple of toilets now which is a huge improvement.

Doha International Airport review by Liam Doyle
12 August 2006

I am sitting n Doha airport waiting for my connection to Manila at 22.20hrs, and there is plenty of seating upstairs. Eating options are not great. No hassle arriving here. It will be interesting to see if there are any hiccups departing. I am using the free wireless internet which is a bonus of this airport. They are expanding this airport. I guess the success and growth of Qatar Airways has taken them by surprise.

Doha International Airport review by Eric Kirkpatrick
12 August 2006

Transited fairly easily in both directions including one 5 hour gap between flights. To be fair these were late evening arrivals and departures. Tip - upstairs move away from the restaurant to what appears to have been a fairly recently opened area around Gates 12 -14. Not only are there plenty of seats available but also new toilets with working soap dispensers and towels.

Doha International Airport review by Keith Partington
10 July 2006

This airport must have a script they follow as my experience on 25th June and early on 2nd July was the same as Erich Kertel's below. I missed a tight connection to Seychelles after my flight from LHR was delayed by almost 2 hours but at least the arrivals area was empty as they sorted out a hotel for 36 hours whilst I waited for the next available flight. On my return (SEZ-DOH-LGW) we arrived at DOH 20 minutes early but were directed to the maintenance area and sat on board for an hour and 30 minutes as there were insufficient parking bays on the terminal side of the runway. Once inside I discovered my flight to LGW was delayed by almost 2 hours with no clue as to which gate we would depart through until about 20 minutes before the new departure time. Two tiny cafes, no bar and insufficient seating was unbearable particularly when one could see a cavernous Duty Free area that was somewhat underused. Sort it out Doha - the Asian Games are not that far away! Qatar Airways are very good but they will suffer at the hands of Doha before too long.

Doha International Airport review by Erich Kertels
26 June 2006

Twice I had to change planes at Doha Airport. Qatar Airways is growing fast, but this airport is by far too small. Passengers have to sit on the ground, toilets are unacceptably dirty the restaurant upstairs is crowded people are already waiting to catch a seat. Organization is chaotic. On the flight from Shanghai to Munich we had about 11 hrs in Doha, but Qatar Airways put us in a fine hotel. So we had to wait only 2 hrs at Doha airport. About 30 min before departure the screen showed LAST CALL for our flight but still the GATE OPEN. So we asked and were told that it must be gate number 7 where already the passengers for ROME are queuing. There was a little confusion at gate 7 and some told this side to ROME and this side to MUNICH. But nothing happened until 15 minutes before scheduled departure someone cried MUNICH NOW GATE 10. I am afraid how they can manage the Asian games in December 2006. A lot has to be improved.

Doha International Airport review by Peter Wright
26 April 2006

I came through Doha airport on Saturday night from Cape Town to London. Thankfully Qatar airways has wonderful planes and good staff onboard because the experience at the airport was comical. The overcrowding and toilet queues have been mentioned by others but what annoyed me was that no-one seemed to know what was going on, or if they did they weren't telling passengers. Originally our flight was called for Gate 2, this then became Gate 6. The confusion outside Gate 6 was increased when it suddenly became the flight to Moscow. Then it was to Gate 7. This then changed to Hong Kong. By this time we should have taken off already. Eventually the Hong Kong flight was boarded, but no one could tell us what gate to use. Eventually the boarding area for Gate 7 was opened to allow people to sit down (no boarding passes taken). About 30 minutes later everyone had to vacate the area in order to come back through and hand in their boarding passes. Even after this we were no closer to boarding the plane. No announcements were made about the delay and eventually one of the passengers made an impromptu announcement after asking one of the ground staff. The ground staff refused to actually make any announcement themselves. After a 2 and a half hour delay we eventually took off. In actual time terms the delay wasn't too bad, but it was the endless standing around waiting as there are not enough seats and the lack of information that rankled.

Doha International Airport review by Eddie Impey
18 April 2006

Doha airport is terrible when its a busy period. I queued for over an hour to get through the transfer desks and I was travelling in Business class. I can't comment on the airport itself because I use the lounge but when its busy its a zoo to say the least.

Doha International Airport review by Alistair Paul
12 March 2006

Recently travelled through Doha on route to Maldives. Previous reviews given us major doubts about this. However, our experience was of a smooth exchange. Admittedly, we travelled at off-peak times (early morning and midnight). The airport is bustling with people even at these times but we were able to locate the transfer desk quite easily and was told our onward departure gate. One piece of advice, especially for ladies, don't even think about trying to get to the toilets, the queue is horrendous. The departure gate areas are very busy but we had no trouble in finding the right gate. Obviously this airport has a long way to go until the building work is complete, but I feel it wasn't as bad as had been portrayed. I wouldn't hesitate in stopping here again, but only if the times were off-peak.

Doha International Airport review by Kevin Chivers
9 March 2006

My wife and I transitted through Doha in mid-February. Having read some of the customer reviews we braced ourselves for a truly horrible experience - especially as we had a 3 hour wait for our outgoing flight to Colombo. However, we were pleasantly surprised - no problems with seating, crowds, food etc. Admittedly our first arrival was at 6.00am when the airport was practically deserted - but our return transit was at 12 noon when there were plenty of planes and passengers. I agree with the comments about the lack of toilet facilities - worse for ladies rather than gents - and the small size of the departure gate seating areas. These comments apart, we would be quite happy to transit via Doha again. We were even able to pay for food and drinks in sterling and get change in sterling!

Doha International Airport review by John Doe
8 February 2006

As there's major construction work going on right now at Doha arriving passengers have to enter the airport through some makeshift barracks - not sure if it's already for the new airport (which I thought would be located somewhere else) or just a temporary upgrade of the current facilities. As others have said before, the airport is very small - in fact its basically one single hall. Inside its merely a huge two storey duty free shop with groups of chairs on the side which serve as 'gates'. Usually there's more than one flight scheduled at the same time for a gate which leads to unbelievable congestion - the information displays don't even show any assigned gate numbers for most flights so you'll have to ask around, that is if you manage to fight your way to the counter desk. The only toilet facilities of the whole airport are at the restaurant area on the upper floor. There are also usually free seats available (as opposed to any of the 'departure gates'.) but you might miss your flight over there as the flow of relevant information is rather non existent.

Doha International Airport review by Vincent Meehan
14 January 2006

Doha Intl Airport is currently undergoing total replacement. The new airport is being constructed from reclaimed land to the east of the current site and should be open/part operational by 2007. The current airport, my local getaway point, is woefully small for the number of passengers descending on it as transit passengers. I pity them their time there as I am totally stressed out just using it as a departure point. On the plus side, everything is new and, until hoards of transit passengers descend, reasonably clean. The staff ARE friendly (you try being nice to hundreds of grumpy passengers 24/7) and the food, in comparison with other airports is cheap (I was charged over 8Euro for a sandwich in Schipol). Toilet facilities are something else. Someone else complained of flooded facilities - this is normal as it is the local habit to wash yourself and the cubicle with the hose provided when you have completed your ablutions. There are, however, way too few toilets for the number of passengers.

Doha International Airport review by Ian Gadd
2 January 2006

I agree with previous comments about Doha, it is far too small to handle it's current volume of traffic, the toilet facilities are farcical, there are approximately 6 gents cubicles and 5 urinals in the whole airport, you can imagine the difficulties this causes!! Seating is also inadequate if you arrive at busy times, we were lucky in that we transited (now that was an experience also - cattle market or what??) just about an hour each way - whilst reasonably quiet, so easily able to locate a seat, however, once busy you had no chance of finding a seat. Here's a tip if you are looking for seating try the restaurant - as you can't get near the counter to get food - just use the ample free seating in the cafe area!!

Doha International Airport review by Sandy Ferreira
1 January 2006

A friend and I flew in to Doha International on Saturday 10.12.2005 from Abu Dhabi on route to Johannesburg. We had a five hour delay until the departing flight. On arrival in Doha at 18h55 it was relatively quiet and appeared clean. We had no problems in Duty free or the restaurant upstairs. This quiet period lasted approximately half an hour and then all hell broke loose. The airport is incapable of handling the amount of passengers that goes through it. There was no seating whatsoever and people were queuing for chairs and even floor space to sit. The toilets are unacceptably dirty. The smoking room apparently is also unacceptable and by the time we eventually left, people were smoking in the terminal building. This is also totally unacceptable for Non smokers who are subjected to smoking in the terminal building and for the smokers themselves. As for the advertisement that Doha International "looks after every item of baggage" this is a joke. It has taken 12 days for every item of luggage that we checked in to be delivered to us. I was absolutely horrified by the experience of Doha airport and will in future avoid going through the airport at all costs even if I have to pay more.

Doha International Airport review by Andrew Girdler
13 December 2005

I travelled from Doha to London with BA in the late evening December 8th 2005. At this time there were a lot of full flights to places such as Islamabad, Peshawar and Dhaka and the departures area was unbelievably overcrowded. Trying to shop in the duty free area was almost impossible due to overcrowding. Once through the shop, the tiny lounge (on 2 levels) was so crowded people were sitting on the floors everywhere. In fact there was hardly any space to stand it was so full. Seating areas are totally inadequate. Also it was incredibly hot in the departures area and most passengers were visibly sweating. The catering area on the upper level is so tiny and overcrowded it is impossible to even get near it! The toilets were disgusting and smelly and passengers were queueing to enter them!

Doha International Airport review by Roy Blewett
11 December 2005

Facilities here are inadequate. I travelled business class from Bangkok to London with a 150-minute stopover at Doha in the small hours of 4 Dec. The terminal is little more than a duty-free shop with gates attached, and there were people everywhere. Even the business class lounge was packed to capacity and had to sit on the floor. No doubt the facilities cope admirably at quiet times, but the period around midnight is not one of those and the small building quickly becomes swamped with people. Bottom line is that this is a regional airport servicing intercontinental flights.

Doha International Airport review by Ros Constable
13 November 2005

In transit in Doha to and from Colombo. One of us is disabled so that was really fun. Absolutely terrible toilet facilities that could not be wheelchair accessed - I asked in the Business Lounge if we could use their facilities: "no, other passengers would not like it". I suspect most westerners would not have a problem with a disabled person accessing their loos but there you go. Food area overpriced and rude staff - this seems to be a theme - and if you are a smoker then the smoking area is a real treat, I joke of course. This airport is one to avoid until they seriously upgrade the facilities. The person designated to push the wheelchair however was very helpful and polite, unlike most of the other airport staff.

Doha International Airport review by William Agius
9 October 2005

We recently transited through Doha on our way from Dubai to Zurich. The airport is actually very neat and clean but they definitely have a serious issue regarding the distribution of the available space. Basically, since Qatar Airways decided to expand, the airport has become way too small for the passengers it has to handle every day. In the transit area there is only one really small cafe which is rather small and a larger self-service area one floor up but both can never handle all the passengers. As for the rest, roughly three quarters of the terminal area are taken up by a really great tax free shop. As a result, during the early morning and late evening rush, there is not enough seating so people end up sitting on the floor and blocking the ailes. There even aren't enough gates for all the flights. Our flight for example was delayed by 45 minutes simply because the flight at that gate before had to wait for transit passengers who in turn were late because they couldn't make it through all the people standing around in time! Qatar Airways is not a bad airline but having to fly to or via Doha is enough reason to choose not to fly with them.

Doha International Airport review by Richard Polley
29 June 2005

I had a long stopover and went into the city whilst waiting. It is only a couple of miles away. Qatar Immigration issued an entry visa at the passport inspection. Not much to see in Doha but it did kill some time. I don't really recommend the Iranian restaurant. The same taxi driver picked me up at the restaurant, he told me that I would have had trouble finding a taxi to get back to the airport from the city late at night without a mobile phone, as the drivers go home after about 11pm and stop cruising about. Also some unscupulous drivers might try to swindle you. I had seen the previous contributers' comments, so when I got back to the airport I waited outside the entrance to the departure area, where there was plenty of seating, as long as I could. I should have stayed there even longer because the departure lounge was, as anticipated, very crowded and stressful. It would be a nice little airport if there were only a few flights but it cannot cope with the load of Qatar Airways using it as their hub. I noticed signs up saying that there would be a new terminal within the next couple of years, but could not see any evidence of building.

Doha International Airport review by Alex Chandy

4 March 2005

Basically it is neat and clean, but too small for the amount of traffic that passes through it. If you are able to find a place to sit in the airport, you can consider yourself very lucky. The 5 hours I spent standing in transit followed by the 13 hour flight to Seoul can be described as the most stressful hours of my life. Seating capacity in the airport is minimal and so are the food outlets. Long queues are the order of the day. If you have to spend anything more than an hour in transit, I would strongly recommend avoiding Doha airport altogether.

Doha International Airport review by Alan Punter

4 February 2005

I have just read some of the other comment on these pages and find I must agree with the common theme. Nice airport clean and tidy but very poor seating and food facility. Just returned from MNL - no improvement from a year ago. OK if you have a 1 or 2 hr stopover, but over that it is bad. Avoid the flight transfer desk - it does not do anything except give you the gate your flight leaves from - which is on the screens around the airport. They do not open the lounges until they want you on the planes. Having seat on the floor for a hour before waiting for the lounge to open. Do not bother with the food court - messy dirty, untidy and rude staff.

Doha International Airport review by Tarun Patel

28 January 2005

I had the pleasure of an 8 hour stopover in Doha yesterday (26.01.05) on my return flight. When we arrived the airport wasn't that busy and we managed to find some comfy-ish seats upstairs close to the poor excuse of a food court. We were lucky as within 1.5 hours the airport was heaving. On the outbound journey we seemed to arrive around the same peak-time (between 8 and 11pm) and we had to sit on the floor. On our return flight we again saw many people having to sit on the floor (a situation not helped by selfish passengers occupying another seat with their hand luggage). One thing I didn't understand is why the seats in the departure lounges (after you have progressed through your gate) remained empty. Perhaps they ought to open the gates sooner - this would alleviate the overcrowding problem. My sister used one of the food vouchers supplied by our carrier (Qatar Airways - not a bad airline) because of our lengthy stopover. The staff serving in the food court were incredibly unhelpful and incredibly rude showing a total lack of manners. they literally threw the food on my sister's plate and even offered it on a used plate and a drink in a carton that had already been handled by someone (it had been scribbled on by a child. Whilst the airport is generally clean, with a good duty free section, it is a bit on the small side for the number of passengers that use it. It makes me wonder, if the connecting flights for most travellers are generally in the same continuous east-west or west-east direction, why they don't stagger them to avoid passengers travelling in opposite directions converging on the airport all at the same time? The toilets should be avoided during the peak time. The floor is a sea of water and other niceties (I dread to think). What low level of intellect must a passenger possess that they can't even use a toilet properly? Overall - a bit cramped but clean and bright, avoid lengthy stopovers. Good duty-free, terrible food and toilets.

Doha Airport by Gareth Duhig

1 January 2005

Although the airport is very modern they have no jet ways so every flight you are bused to & from the aircraft. If in transit like myself you are trapped in what is basically a shopping mall with the departure gates to one side. There is a food court of sorts upstairs that serves some truly bad overpriced food. There are very few comfortable places to sit if you there at peak times. OK for about an hour but anything more gets very tedious - maybe they should think about installing some TV's showing CNN or something.

Doha Airport by John Morgan

21 October 2004

Further to my previous comment I must have missed the upstairs food outlets, possibly due to the confusion caused by the building work going on inside.

Doha Airport by Robin Bramhall

11 June 2004

We travelled through Doha Airport twice, on our flights from Manchester to Singapore. On the first occasion we had a two day stopover in Doha. The airport is modern and clean, but small. It reminded me a bit of London City Airport. There's a reasonable duty free area (including one part which for some reason sells Omo washing powder!) and an adequate cafeteria. The only minor blip was the porters who lurk near the luggage conveyor belts on arrival. They're very keen to load your bags onto a trolley, or anyone's bags for that matter, and expect a large tip to push the trolley a few yards. We had a similar experience when we arrived at the airport for our flight to Singapore. The porter was ready to open the boot of the taxi almost before it had stopped. Nevertheless, a good airport to spend a couple of hours in.

Doha Airport by V Abraham

10 June 2004

I have travelled many a times via Doha International. I found the atmosphere inside like a shopping mall and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The only complaint I have is the food offered in the airport on the first floor is horrible and totally out of character.

Doha Airport by Farhaan Ahmed Quraishi

22 March 2004

I have been residing in Doha for 15 years now and travel abroad almost twice a year. I've seen Doha intl airport from the days when it was like a third class airport with absolutely no exclusive facilities like its counterparts in Dubai and Beirut, but over the last year I think that the airport has changed its image rather significantly. The recent completion of the new multi-million dollar terminal offers travellers a wide range of facilities including an impressive duty free shopping area, coffee shops, hotel desks and car hire, prayer rooms and banks. The ambience in this new terminal is contemporary and bright with a refreshing sense of space. With ample seating, you may choose to sit and admire this impressive architectural achievement. The Qatar Airways Group plans to invest a further $750 million in the continued expansion of the airport. The new airport will be fully operational by 2006.

Doha Airport by Steve Vermillion

14 February 2004

Doha International Airport is small and easy to navigate your way through. The only thing I found inconvenient was the long, seemingly unorganized line for a visa on arrival. The Staff were not friendly, but not unfriendly either, and very few of them spoke English. They did however assist in getting me through without any real hassle. There is a small duty-free shop in the arrivals terminal, but the duty free shops in the departures terminal are much larger and quite inviting to someone who has a long wait. At the check-in counter, I found the staff to be very friendly and helpful. It was a pleasure standing there talking to them. When I arrived in Doha, I found that picking up my luggage was pretty easy, as was getting through Customs. Altogether, from the time we landed until I was out of the terminal door took about 20 minutes. Very fast and simple. One thing I can't figure out though. If you have family or friends awaiting your arrival in the arrivals terminal, you have to follow the line and exit the building before you can be reunited with them. I like Doha International Airport very much. It's definitely one of the easiest, less confusing airports I've ever been in.

Doha Airport by A Dissanayake

4 August 2003

While flying to Colombo I was on a 3 hours transit stop at Doha Intl Airport. The airport is small and therefore very easy for connecting passengers. Passengers need to pass security before they can enter the transit area. Security staff, however, are very unfriendly and rude. After passing security passenger enter the transit which mainly consists of the Qatar Duty Free offering a wide range of perfume, jewellery, candy and electronics. Outside the Duty Free there are plenty of seating areas for passengers. The upper foor has two restaurants and the Qatar Airways Lounges. The airport needs some more entertainment facilities such as TVs and more cafes, but though it's good.

Doha Airport by John Bauman

19 March 2003

First class passengers are transported from aircraft to terminal building by BMW 7 series limo, which surely is the way to arrive ! Once inside the very smart arrivals hall there was a distinct lack of Airline staff to assist with visa or transit enquiries and certainly no priority for First/Business transit passengers. Luckily I had read up on obtaining a visa on arrival and the purchase and issue was very straight forward. Of interest though is the fact that once the visa has been entered into your passport there is no need to join the arrivals immigration queue-just simply walk past and collect your baggage. The arrivals hall is currently undergoing extensive building upgrades and is very much a real building site. Not a place to linger! Again, lack of staff although the luggage was prioritised and arrived very quickly. On departure the check in staff were helpful but somewhat misinformed as to the seating availability for the flight. My wife and I were assigned seats three rows apart but on reaching the Business lounge these were altered to enable us to sit together. (Imagine our amusement when we discovered that there were only 5 other people on the plane in Business Class.) The departure building is modern, clean and very well stocked with sufficient shopping and food outlets to satisfy most travellers. Security was tight but not oppressive. The airport is small and certainly not Dubai but I found all the staff helpful and polite. The Qatar Airways First and Business lounges are separate but are both excellent. Very well stocked, good showers and courteous staff made us feel very welcome. The lounges were quiet with a good choice of reading material and dedicated smoke rooms for those who needed the fix before their flight. Lounge staff informed us that our flight was ready to depart and we then went downstairs for priority embarkation. Again First Class passengers are transported by BMW whilst Business travel by upgraded dedicated bus. To conclude a very easy airport to navigate through.