Doha International Is Back: The 12 Airlines Flying World Cup Fans

The start of the World Cup in Qatar is rapidly approaching. To accommodate the increased demand, Doha International Airport has reopened to passenger airlines after shutting to them eight years ago. It is a means of reducing pressure on Doha Hamad. As of September 20th, 12 carriers have filed flights from Doha International. Almost all have already started, and some continue to serve Hamad.

Passenger flights: Doha International

Doha International is the previous airport serving the Middle East city. Having ended scheduled passenger flights in 2014, it was used by the Royal Family, VIPs, the Qatar Air Force, and more. Now airline service is back, although only until the end of the year.

While it might change, the latest data from Cirium indicates that Doha International has 2,114 departing flights scheduled between September and December, as summarized below:

September: 199 departing flights from Doha International
October: 399
November: 738
December: 778

As the World Cup runs between November 20th and December 18th, the majority of flights (72%) are, of course, in the last two months of the year. Indeed, it is estimated that Doha International will have ~12% of all flights to/from Qatar in this peak period.

Photo: flydubai.

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12 passenger airlines so far

The following table summarizes Doha International's passenger operation, organized by total departing flights. The vast majority – 1,535 out of 2,088 – are to the United Arab Emirates, with routes less than an hour away. There's a real shuttle service, supplemented by more flights from Hamad. (World2Fly uses two air operator's certificates, so it is technically two separate airlines.)

Airline	Dates of flights from Doha International	Route(s) (each doesn't necessarily operate for the same period)	Departing flights	Aircraft (in order of flights)
flydubai	Sep. 15th to Dec. 30th	Dubai International & World Central	925	B737 MAX 8, B737 MAX 9
Etihad	Sep. 15th to Dec. 30th	Abu Dhabi	346	A321, A320, B787-9, B787-10
Air Arabia	Sep. 15th to Dec. 30th	Sharjah	264	A320, A321neo
Pegasus	Sep. 15th to Dec. 30th	Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen	145	A320, A321neo, B737-800
SalamAir	Sep. 15th to Dec. 30th	Muscat	111	A320neo
Jazeera	Sep. 15th to Dec. 30th	Kuwait	107	A320, A320neo
Pakistan International	Sep. 15th to Dec. 30th	Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar	106	A320ceo
Nepal Airlines	Sep.18th to Dec. 30th	Kathmandu	59	A330-200, A320
Ethiopian Airlines	Sep. 16th to Dec. 30th	Addis Ababa	45	B787-8, B737 MAX 8, B777-200LR, B787-9
Air Cairo	Sep. 19th to Oct. 27th	Sohag	Just 4 flights	A320
World2Fly	Nov. 30th only	Madrid	1 charter flight	A350-900
World2Fly Portugal	Nov. 30th only	Cardiff	1 charter flight	A330-300