In response to complaints about long delays at passport control in recent months, Qatar Airways’ CEO has blamed staff shortages at Hamad International Airport for the problem.
Speaking to the Gulf Times this week, Akbar Al Baker – whose airline manages the airport – said that Qatar Airways, the Ministry of Interior – whose staff man the immigration desks – and other unnamed parties were “trying to resolve the issue as a team.”
Qatar Airways and HIA have not responded to repeated requests from Doha News about the queues at the airport.
Documents promoting the airport, which opened less than two years ago, boast that it has 50 check-in counters, but passengers have been telling Doha News that the majority of these sometimes go unmanned.
Three-hour wait
Responding to questions about their recent airport experiences, Filipina expat Rosemarie Herrera said she spent three hours waiting at immigration and passport control at HIA last month before boarding her Cebu Pacific flight to Manila.
“Many hundreds of people were waiting, but there were only two people on the desks at first stamping passports, then eventually two more came,” Herrera told Doha News.
“I had arrived at the airport four hours before my flight was due to take off, but in the end I had to run to get on it, because I had spent so long waiting at passport control.”
Meanwhile, Shoba Mariam John said her sister missed her flight to the Maldives earlier this month, despite arriving well in advance: