Doha Airport

Doha airport is not a place to spend more than an hour in transit. Very poor facilities for longer stopovers. The bus trip from plane to terminal is not a pleasant experience as the journey can take more than 15 minutes and after a long flight the last thing you want is to "strap hang" in a bus which has very limited seating. I would not travel with Qatar again until it upgrades the Doha airport facilities. Even though I have travelled both business class (superb) and economy class (not much better than other airlines) I would not fly Qatar again unless the transit time is no more than one hour. Doha airport is dry (unless you can access the first and business class lounges) yet on the contrary the outbound duty free has a large range of liquor products at very good prices.

Arrived Doha en route Shanghai to Heathrow. Damaged an already inflamed Achilles tendon on stepping up to shuttle bus. On arrival at terminal an official made me sit down whilst he fetched a wheelchair. From then on it was priority treatment. Staff could not have been more kind or friendly. Had travelled out through Doha. Found terminal clean uncrowded with easy to follow signs. Speak as you find and I found them wonderful.

Other than having to travel between the aircraft and the terminal by bus I have no problems with Doha but my review is based on travelling business class but I've never had any serious problems when flying economy. The new airport should be open soon so its goodbye to the free tour of the airport by bus.

The original terminal which I used to pass through frequently in the 1990’s seems to have disappeared to be replaced with a larger more modern building which is only a temporary terminal pending opening of the new Doha Airport. There are no airbridges so passengers are bussed to and from the terminal. Many connecting flights have short transfer times (mine was 50 minutes) which considering the time needed to travel to and from the terminal makes for a rushed and somewhat stressful transfer experience. I had been given an orange and yellow trimmed ‘short transfer’ boarding pass on check in with instructions from Qatar Airways to make this visible on arrival at Doha and to follow instructions. As it turned out no one was interested and there were no ‘short transfer’ lanes open or anyone offering assistance. Fortunately it was easy enough to identify my departure gate which was only a short walk away. The terminal itself is rather basic and functional and still too small for the number of passengers using it but easy to navigate and seems to do its job effectively enough. I was also impressed that my bags made the connection but all in all not a particularly enjoyable experience.

I used this airport with my wife and kids on the way to and from Singapore to Paris flying with Qatar Airways. We did not disembark into a terminal but into buses waiting on the tarmac to bring us to the transit terminal in the middle of the night. The trips in the buses were long we were stuck in one of them for 20 minutes at the bottom of the aircraft waiting to board the aircraft the driving style of the drivers was anything but smooth. The terminal itself was drab and looked very old and tired with nothing to do in it (no duty free hardly any food outlets).

Very smooth and fast on the short transit but unpleasant and boring for 14 hours stay on my way back home through it. Freezing cold aircon late at night only three tiny coffee outlets. Two smallish food courts with very limited choice (moderately priced though). Duty free there was a total disappointment in terms of choice and prices. Toilets were clean and well stocked. Used paid lounge (Oryx) and was disappointed with selection of snacks (almost nothing to eat) quality of pastries selection of drinks. Overall the facility just does its business but nothing more. Hope the new terminal will be what Qatar Airways deserves.

It is a pity that after a great flight with Qatar Airways from CGK I have to experience a lot of discomfort from very long bus trip from the plane to the terminal limited food stalls limited rest rooms and short of seats. I do not think I will fly with Qatar Airways again although this is one of the best economy class I have ever experienced. It is hard to believe that the bus trip from the plane to the terminal or the opposite can take more than 30 minutes while most of the passenger are without seat it is very much torturing.

As a special assistance customer I was terrified of transiting Doha Airport after reading other reviews. However my experience could not have been more delightful. Upon parking at the stand myself and all other special assistance passengers were disembarked using a lift vehicle and driven in it to the transfer terminal. There we were seated in a reserved area then taken swiftly through security. I was taken to the smoking area whilst my wife checked us in and then we waited for a bus to take us to the aircraft. We again used a lift car to enter it. Super job most efficient.

Passed though DOH to and from Asia. The transit is pretty unpleasant. All stories about the crowds and queues and bus rides are true. Security check was fast took about 10 minutes. There weren't enough areas for sitting. One quiet zone with about 40 impressive uncomfortable seats with fridge-atmosphere. Another quiet zone with more seats and a little bit warmer doesn't deserve to be named "quiet". Lavatories provide just warm water but are clean at least. For people in economy there should at least be a little better organization.

Travelled through this airport twice last month and overall impression was that it is below average. The biggest problem is that there are no airbridges onto the plane so in order to board the aircraft you go down an escalator into a very cramped 'holding area' with hardly any seats before boarding a bus for the very long journey out to the plane. Very poor indeed. Other facilities are quite basic with small crowded and dirty toilets and a general air of overcrowding including a horrendously long queue to get into the Oryx lounge. The only positive was that there seemed to be a lot of Qatar Airways staff all around the terminal assisting passengers. I hope the new airport will provide a much better experience for passengers.