The new Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha is expected to open in a phased manner by mid-year 2014, a senior official has said.

Speaking at the press conference,  Abdul Aziz Mohammad Al-Noaimi, chairman of the steering committee of the airport, said the project is nearly complete.

The Passenger Terminal will have an internal area of 600,000 sq m on opening day. The terminal will initially have three concourses and 33 contact gates. It will increase to five concourses and 65 contact gates, including eight for the A380 in the final build-out. The terminal also includes 16 lounges for various categories of passengers, 28 art installations by local, regional and international artists, more than 100 F&B and retail outlets, a transit hotel, a swimming pool, a luxury spa and squash courts.

The airport will also have a four-storey catering facility, one of the largest in the world with a capacity to produce 90,000 meals per day.

Al Noaimi said despite delays, which were a result of changes requested during construction to expand the project, as well as challenges faced regarding some contracts, the project is on track for a mid-year opening.

HIA will be larger and have greater capacity on its opening day than initially envisioned. Due to increased transit growth in Qatar and the region in the past few years, these modifications were necessary to deliver an airport with a capacity of 30 million on opening day.

The third phase was intended for a 2015 start, but it was decided to accelerate the process and integrate all construction phases to complete the entire project in a shortened time, he said.

HIA and the planned Airport City span 29 sq km, 60 per cent on land reclaimed from the Arabian Gulf. More than 1,000 architects, designers, engineering consultants, and project managers worked on the project, through more than 200 local, regional and international contractors and service contracts.