Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the UAE, has announced its four daily passenger flights from Abu Dhabi to Doha will now operate from the new Hamad International Airport (HIA) from tomorrow (May 14).

Freighter operations to the new airport will commence from 18 May.

All Etihad Airways ticketing and check-in, gates, baggage services and customer service operations will be working out of Terminal 1 from May 14.

Captain Richard Hill, Etihad Airways’ chief operations officer, said: "We believe moving our operations to the new state-of-the-art airport is a positive step which will offer our guests newer and more spacious facilities and enhance their travel experience flying in and out of Doha.”

Opened at the end of April, HIA is designed to handle 29 million passengers annually and has three times the capacity of the existing Doha International Airport.

An upgraded range of facilities and services have been introduced at the new 600,000 sq m passenger terminal, including larger check-in areas and newly designed retail and dining outlets. Upgrades to the baggage handling system and security areas have also been made. – TradeArabia News Service