The World Cup will kick off in Qatar in a little over two months. To accommodate over a million visitors during the event and to ease pressure on Hamad International, the country is refurbishing and reopening Doha International Airport to airlines.

The airport, which last saw passenger airline service in 2014, is presently used by the Royal Family, VIPs, the Qatar Air Force, and more. While it has been long discussed that it'll supplement Hamad International, it wasn't clear until now which carriers will use it.

Three airlines so far

As of September 8th, Kuwait's Jazeera Airways, Oman's SalamAir, and Turkey's Pegasus have said they'd switch to Doha International. Financial or other incentives are likely to underpin the temporary changes. It's probable that many other airlines – likely also low-cost or hybrid or otherwise fairly niche – will follow.

Not all carriers will solely operate from Doha International. For example, Jazeera says on its website that its "regular" Doha flights will use International, while World Cup shuttle flights will use Hamad International.

While Salam Air lists both airports in its booking engine, only its route between Muscat and Doha Hamad is bookable, suggesting further changes are coming. Running 4x weekly, OV235 will leave Oman at 17:00 and arrive in Qatar at 17:35 local time. OV236 will then depart at 18:35 and arrive back at 21:00.

Jazeera Airways to Qatar
Jazeera will use both Doha airports. Image: Jazeera Airways.

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Jazeera to Doha

Dummy bookings on Jazeera's website show a 1x daily Kuwait to Doha international service beginning on September 15th. This is the airline's regular flight shifting airports, and the specific schedule varies daily.

From November 22nd, it'll have up to 5x daily Doha flights: up to 4x daily to Hamad and 1x to International. According to its booking engine, 1x daily will return on December 20th. It'll still be to Doha International, with Hamad returning on December 31st.

Based on November 22nd, Jazeera's World Cup schedule is as follows. Notice the longer turnaround at Doha International:

  • Kuwait to Doha: 06:00-07:20 (Hamad), 13:00-14:20 (International), 14:00-15:20 (Hamad), 17:00-18:20 (Hamad), 23:00-00:20+1 (Hamad)
  • Doha to Kuwait: 01:05-02:25 (Hamad), 08:05-09:25 (Hamad), 15:20-16:40 (International), 16:05-17:25 (Hamad), 19:05-20:25 (Hamad)
9K-CBB_-_Jazeera_Airways_-_Airbus_A320-251N_-_MSN_9002_-_VGHS
Photo: Md Shaifuzzaman Ayon via Wikimedia.

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Pegasus to Doha International

Of the trio, only Pegasus is so far planning to serve Doha International exclusively. Its first flight to the old airport will leave Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen on September 14th. Running 1x daily, timings vary per day.

According to its website, the frequency will rise to 8x weekly from October 20th and up to 12x weekly during the World Cup. Its schedule is as follows, with all times local. Flights will revert to Hamad International from December 30th.

  • Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen to Doha: 20:50-00:55+1 (International); 23:35-03:40+1 (International)
  • Doha to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen: 02:00-06:30 (International); 04:45-09:15 (International)

Which airlines would you like to see temporarily fly to Doha International? Let us know in the comments.