Hamad Doha Airport

✅ Verified Review | Hamad Doha has got it's act back together. It's clean, high class and efficient. All elements of a great airport are back in place. The problems of poor service, things not working are once again a thing of the past (December). Check in was fast, security even faster.

✅ Verified Review | At Doha airport, there were no gate agents directing passengers, especially ones with tight connecting flights. Being the fabulous international hub that it is, I had to spend precious seconds staring at a departure monitor, waiting for the dozens of flight information in Arabic and English to scroll through, before seeing my gate appear on screen. At the security check point there was poor management as well. One long line and a choke point before passenger could reach the multiple scanners and security stations. I noticed too late that there was a priority check station but no signs or staff to guide people through it. At the scanners, again no visible sign as to what needed to be removed and placed into the bins. Mumbling staff and confused international passengers caused more minutes to be wasted. At this point, in my rush to get through I put my passport and boarding card in the bin. When the bin reappeared from the scanner the boarding card was missing (thankfully it wasn't my passport). The security people were stressed and barely helpful so rather that stay and argue I rushed to the nearest airline counter and was re-issued another boarding card. The counter agent told me to run and was kind enough to have a colleague accompany me through the terminal pointing out the way to the gate. To make a long story short, a Qatar Airways agent with a radio noticed me, announced that I was on my way and finally I was on the aircraft, literally the last passenger on board with the pilot asking all ground personnel leave immediately. Basically, the same on the return flight. Surprisingly for a great big airport like Hamad the plane had to park away from a gate and buses had to used to ferry us to the terminal. Of course the bus had to stop for several minutes to avoid getting blasted by jet exhaust. Better situation in the terminal with more staff along the way answering question and me being smarter due to my in-bound experience. There were two security checks. Again, due to lack of proper signs, inarticulate staff and tired and confused international passenger, more delay getting through. Please tell me why there were no signs and why the staff failed to inform people clearly as to what needed to be removed from ones person before walking through the metal detector? The result was multiple people having to walk through the metal detectors multiple times and putting individual items in widely separated scanner bins. Thus I am now the proud owner of a belt belonging to a much wider person and I am sure, there is another human somewhere in the world, with a belt much smaller than his girth. I have to say that my experience with Hamad was unsatisfactory. I understand that in the annals of airport horror stories mine is a cakewalk but it was partly a result of inferior customer service. Something I expect in the USA but not at a much vaunted Middle East airport. Avoid flying via Hamad, sorry Changi I promise not to stray again.

✅ Verified Review | Everything ran smoothly. Instantly through transit security, instantly through gate security. No issues in purchasing/picking up duty free purchase. Witnessing airport staff assisting other passengers. Good signage to direct people throughout the terminal (whether to security. Or duty free or food court) the only issue I had was some power sockets to recharge my iPad weren't working. But who knows, that may have been a technical fault on my adapter and not the fault of the airport.

I pass through Doha airport regularly to and from the subcontinent, and the building itself is impressive - not least its sheer size. It appears though that it is already running at what seems like full capacity. There are a number of facilities it offers to passengers, yet they are mostly grossly inadequate for the number of people travelling through on a daily basis, particularly when most the flight arrivals and departures appear to be concentrated in the early morning or late night. Security screening area for transit far too small and queues are huge. The Silver/Gold card lounge has always been absolutely packed, often with limited seating, and with just a few showers, the queue is so long I don't even bother asking if I can use them any more. Similarly, sleeping areas would have been a great touch, but again, are far too small for the number of people using the airport, and are usually packed out - both inside the lounge and outside (Chairs have low hand rests which prevent people using them to bed down. Bear that in mind if you plan a long overnight transit). I travel frequently with family, and baby strollers are available on a first come first served basis. As usual though there are only a handful available, and they are nearly always finished. Increasing the number of strollers fourfold would be a very simple and cheap investment which would hugely increase the convenience for families - yet nothing has changed in the last 3 years using the airport. Wifi usually not working, probably due to too many people trying to use it. A wonderful facility let down by poor planning and foresight. On the upside the children's play area is fantastic, and the swimming pool upstairs is a quiet haven of tranquility. Expensive, yet worth it if you have a very long layover!!

✅ Verified Review | On 29th December morning I arrived from Rome with Qatar Airways. From exiting the flight it took almost forty five minutes of walking to get to the transit zone. In the transit zone there are only 4 gates for security check with more than 2 thousand travellers. There was chaos because most of the travellers had connection flights that were leaving soon. After the security check, I checked for the connection flight which took almost 30 mins on foot to reach. This airport was built without any proper facilities for travellers.

✅ Verified Review | Great airport but I'm getting sick of the attitude of the immigration staff. Again this morning I was spoken to rudely by an officer. I was taking my bag, ticket, phones etc from the X-ray machine. Whilst I'm taking it out an officer barks at me "move move". I was the only one there. They are more than likely on their phones talking when serving or chatting amongst themselves. Even when you say "Salaam-Alaikum" most of them don't even respond. They completely let the themselves, the image of Qataris and the country down. Here's hoping they get their act together.

We had a long transit and so booked a hotel. Never again. We waited almost 2.5 hours at immigration. It was an absolute disgrace. The lines were so long they exceeded the roped off queuing areas. Mums and dads were struggling with exhausted children, carrying them for hours. We have never had such a bad experience. Speaking to our the taxi driver it's a fairly common experience. Why on earth do they encourage long transits and stopovers and then treat passengers like this?

Doha might be a modern airport but the security system is seriously broken. Thousands of people cramming / pushing / jostling through a totally overloaded security check process. It's a nightmare, everyone in a rush and cramming through. Chaos. It was the same a few weeks ago. I will not fly through this airport again.

We lost more than 2 hours for formalities of entrance passport control at Doha airport. I do not understand how it is possible in such a beautiful airport to have so little care for exhausted passengers who have spent hours in their flights and all they want is to get home or go to their hotels. Little do they know that they have to wait more than 2 hours just to get their passport stamped. It is simply a shame.

Doha Airport is nice and new. However the passport control took more than 2 hours. Only 4 counters out of the 20 or so were open. Poor management is certainly the root cause. Clear example of excellent infrastructure but extraordinarily poorly managed airport.