Doha Group

HIA gets ready for back-to-school rush:

Hamad International Airport (HIA) is preparing for the increase of arrival passengers during this busy back-to-school period, according to a statement issued yesterday.

The staff at HIA have taken several measures, including extending the queue layout at the taxi pick-up points to ensure that passengers receive rapid on-going travel service, deploying extra staff within the terminal to offer guidance and advice, and placing additional baggage trolleys within the baggage reclaim hall.

Members of the public receiving arriving passengers can avail of the free parking at HIA for the first 30 minutes in the short-term car park. Thereafter, the short-term car park is charged at QR5 per hour.

Prior to exiting the passenger terminal, payments for the short-term car park must be processed at the parking payment machines located in the bridge connecting the Passenger Terminal Complex to the car park.

Free parking can also be found in the long-term car park, which includes a bus ride to the bus terminal at HIA. All unattended vehicles parked on the kerbside throughout the HIA facility will be towed away by the authorities.

Abdulaziz al-Mass, vice-president (Commercial) at HIA, said: “We are much better equipped to handle the increase in passenger traffic this summer, and with the modern technology available to us at Hamad International Airport, we can ensure that all our passengers enjoy a seamless, hassle-free experience.”

Gulf Times

Report: 2022 World Cup should be moved to winter for spectators’ sake

As the debate over the feasibility of holding the 2022 World Cup during Qatar’s searing summer months continues, new research has come out in favor of rescheduling the tournament to the winter.

In a new report published in the International Journal of Biometeorology, researchers asserted that many football fans who turn out for the games could suffer “strong heat stress.”

The report’s authors compared official temperatures recorded at the Doha International Airport between March 1999 and January 2014 with thermal indices such as the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET), which takes various factors such as humidity and windspeed into account.

Based on its findings, the report recommended that the World Cup be moved from July to sometime between November and February, “when thermally comfortable conditions are much more frequent.”

“Thermal comfort” was defined as the air temperature at which, in a typical enclosed setting (without wind and solar radiation), the energy balance of the human body reaches an equilibrium state of satisfaction.

For the average central European, this occurs when temperatures range from 18C (64F) to 29C (84F), the report states.

However, in Qatar, the daytime mean maximum air temperatures in June and July – the months that the World Cup are usually held – often exceeded 50C (122F).

Additionally, the average daily minimum air temperature did not drop below 30C (86F) during this same time period.

Unsurprisingly, the researchers concluded that, based on thermal comfort levels of the average central European visitor:
“The results show that this kind of event may be not appropriate for visitors, if it is placed during months with extreme conditions.

For Doha, this is the period from May to September, when conditions during a large majority of hours of the day cause strong heat stress for the visitors.”

The report added that the optimum time of year to hold a World Cup in Qatar, in terms of spectator comfort, would be in the winter months, when average temperatures are regularly in the high teens or low 20Cs.

It concluded:

“It is not the aim of this study to show that Doha City is inappropriate for the FIFA 2022 but to find a time period with the most suitable thermal conditions for visitors and tourists. According to the results, this is the time from November to February.”

Doha News