experiences at Doha airport

Yep, and it makes you feel like a VIP as you breeze past the immigration queues and through the finger print scanner!

Ditto with the iris scanners in the UK airports.

My husband has an e-gate pass and hes not Qatari, its available for everyone, its very good for frequent travellers..

Nope, e-gate is for anyone with an RP. As you walk in to the airport through the Departures door, go into the office directly on your right.

well maybe break his hand off was a bit harsh, but to be shoved? This isn't Eastern Europe...

I enquired last time I came through (along with about 500 workers), and was told they were only for nationals?

Get an e-gate card, then you can bypass the security check on the way out of and on the way in to Doha airport.

I agree with amnesia, he had no right to grab him by the arm and shove him, anyone wouldve reacted the same...The official couldve just told him go to other foreigners line without the physical harrasment..

this poor underpaid guys hand off.

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NIL ILLEGITIMI CARBORUNDUM

I think the key to Amnesia's comment was that he was 'shoved'. Everything to do with his perceived (non-Qatari) nationality. Anyone wants to try and treat me like dirt? Bring it on and I will exercise my rights as well. Amnesia was entitled to be in that queue.

And what's this "fast track'? I'm lucky enough to fly first most of the time, and have never experienced such a thing!!

On balance, Doha airport is entirely representative of Qatar generally - not too bad, but pretty random.

Argh, whats happening to me ?

seriously though, it does ring true.

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NIL ILLEGITIMI CARBORUNDUM

At Qatar airport (I just arrived this morning) I had a rude indian security guy try to shove me out of the GCC cue saying "Foreigners over there". So I kindly said "Shove me again, and I'll break your hand off and next time say "Excuse me sir, do you have a GCC passport". (I then complained to the senior official who then took the person off duty and replaced him with someone else).

So kind of you to use your Qatari status – if in MOST other airports you said “Shove me again, and I'll break your hand off”, no matter what nationality you are, you would be meat amnesia.

I guess when they found out your nationality, the security guy was meat. I’ve seen plenty of times the security outside the airport hit and abuse the poor sods telling them to get out of the way. Can you imagine them with their poor “status” in Qatar say "Shove me again, and I'll break your hand off”...hmmmm

So now you know what it must feel like for the majority of people in Doha who get treated like crap – if the “Indian” security guard thought you were Qatari he would never had done that – not a nice feeling for anyone is it?

where do i start....

If you really knew how bad the security is at the airport you would seriously never fly out of Doha. There are so so so so many things overlooked, not just by the local security.

The security at every airport in the world are rude and arrogant but these Qatari’s take it to a whole new level. There are not just incompetent, stupid and lazy but they treat every passenger as if they had just interrupted them during dinner. If you are lucky to be travelling to Newark/Geneva or Washington you will go through the most extensive security screening of your life. You will be asked to remove the majority of your clothes have most of your hand luggage confiscated and then asked to repack, dress and move in less than 30 seconds...welcome to Doha.

The Immigration are not much better, I once witnessed them ridicule and humiliate an Indian passenger who had a visa problem in there office. They were laughing, poking him while looking at his passport photo. They were pretending they couldn't recognise him from the photo so they made him stand, sit in different ways while the captain invited others to watch...this went on for 15mins. The Indian guy was confused and didn't know what he had done wrong.

"Doha 2016/2018 ....your avin a laugh"

where do i start....

If you really knew how bad the security is at the airport you would seriously never fly out of Doha. There are so so so so many things overlooked, not just by the local security.

The security at every airport in the world are rude and arrogant but these Qatari’s take it to a whole new level. There are not just incompetent, stupid and lazy but they treat every passenger as if they had just interrupted them during dinner. If you are lucky to be travelling to Newark/Geneva or Washington you will go through the most extensive security screening of your life. You will be asked to remove the majority of your clothes have most of your hand luggage confiscated and then asked to repack, dress and move in less than 30 seconds...welcome to Doha.

The Immigration are not much better, I once witnessed them ridicule and humiliate an Indian passenger who had a visa problem in there office. They were laughing, poking him while looking at his passport photo. They were pretending they couldn't recognise him from the photo so they made him stand, sit in different ways while the captain invited others to watch...this went on for 15mins. The Indian guy was confused and didn't know what he had done wrong.

"Doha 2016/2018 ....your avin a laugh"

The percentage of Alchol :)

What do they check in the Liquids...?

The concentration?

supernurse

i recently went to germany, austria and UK with two bottles of 200 ml liquid in my hand luggage. Only n germany they checked the contents and then let me take them on board, other places no body bothered. I dunno if they have some "mechanism" to check now by X rays.

has improved greatly since we arrived in 1982.

Those there then will remember the massive lines of people sometimes taking 2 hours to negotiate, the concrete "bunker" that passports disappeared into through a small hole and regularly came out at the other end in a different order.

It wasn't surprising to see people in the baggage hall looking for their passport which had been inadvertantly given to someone else.

so, can I apply as a tea girl too???hehehe!

I went through with half a bottle of water, visible in my hand luggage!!To bloody Manchester!Scary!

I've always had good experiences at Doha airport,

the 2 that stick out most clearly though were once I was coming back with both my kids (no hubby) and the guy processing my visa noticed my necklace with my name in Arabic, this obliviously was a point of some amusement as before I knew it there were about 5 guys standing around all trying to read it..

The other is most recent while coming back from Bahrain (again without hubby)we got to the immigration desk just as my son decided he needed to go to the loo, well being almost 4 I knew he wouldn't be able to hold on for long and tried to make him hold it, a guard who noticed my son doing the "if I don't get to the toilet soon I am going to pee myself Dance" came over took my son by the hand and told me that he would take him, while they finished processing our passports..

"Your born, You Live, You Die, given this premise, one can conclude since we have no control over when we are born and when we die, the only thing that matters to us should be how we live, simple really?" Mis-Cat to her philosophy Lecturer.

Me too Superdoc and my kids and i have travelled extensivelly...Doha airport has always been very smooth for us which i cant say for other airports..

nadt, i agree with you, this happened to us a couple of times when the supervisor took us to GCC line. Never seen this anywhere else.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy....Martin Luther King

Ive found them quite friendly at Doha airport. In fact a few days ago on arrival, waiting in a long line in the foreigners immigration line with two toddlers(and one of them crying and agitated due to travelling), they kindly pulled us and a few mothers with kids and sent us off to the GCC line which was empty. That was very considerate and wise move for everyone and ive never experienced this anywhere but in Doha airport...

Ruash is uncommon, atleast more than a dozen times that i have gone thru doha airport, its been smooth.

rami, i did not find this fast track anywhere else, except in qatar.

Doha is a nightmare. Last time i visited, there must have been 500 people in the arrivals area.

There were only 6 booths open, and after i queued for over an hour, i was almost at the front, the doors opened and another rake of people came in. The place was like a cattle market.

Bahrain airport is one of the easiest and quickest to clear through, for my money anyway.

Yalla Bahrain !

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NIL ILLEGITIMI CARBORUNDUM

In most countries business class passengers can use a 'fast track' lane at immigration. In some countries this can even include the usual customs screening of your bags. It's a nice touch, I think :p

Well if you are travelling business class they will let you in the GCC line, thats strange.

But overall, i like the qtar airport, the least hassle than any other place.

I think you nailed the problem of Qatarization right on the head.

So many companies are now forced to hire not on merit but on ethnicity, and the employees know this. We've all had this conversation 100s of times before so why go over it again!

I feel sorry for Qataris in the private sector who have to actually WORK for their money, and will never get the same sort of salaries as their government sector counterparts.

It must be very depressing for them, but I guess they do get to know that at least they are contributing towards building a better future for Qatar.

The girls are like little robots on auto-pilot. They are handed the passport, they look at the bearer, look at the passport, look at the computer, press some keys, and stamp it.

I remember once asking a question about different visas and changing a visa, and got the strangest look from her. She had no clue whatsoever and had to send over her supervisor.

He didn't seem so sure either, but just said, 'sure, fine.' I sometimes think they make it up as they go along.

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NIL ILLEGITIMI CARBORUNDUM

25,000+ QR???, I dont think anyone earns that much at the airport, except for the higher staff. You need to get your fact's right. By the way most of the people that work at the airport are either Iranian or Indian. A few friends of mine work at the airport in security, their pay is not more than 7500 riyals. But anyways, it is one messed up place, infact every company which has spoilt brats working in is a mess in Qatar.

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"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" - George Galloway.

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After an exhilerating flight from Mandalay - aboard a Qatar Qirways Business Class where they plied with humungous amounts of yes you got it - GIN - Staggered down the gangplank and was struck immediately by this sensation of having arrived in a land of understated beauty and culture. The staff in the airport were wonderful as they wheeled me through the departure lounge and into my glinting turqoise limousine...............blah blah blah Hic!

I usually find most of the staff at the Doha airport pretty friendly. There was only this one passport control girl who was singing quite loudly to herself and looking off in another direction while she tried to stamp my passport (she actually missed once) that kind of had me worried. Otherwise, seems fine by me.

Visit www.qatarhappening.com

I've used both charan, but i was talkin abt the new one

I dream of a better tomorrow where Chickens can cross the Road without having their motives questioned - Unknown

I think what people are quick to forget is that the salaries of new staff are always, always, always going up, especially for Qataris.

But the salaries for existing staff typically don't change.

So I remember we had the some heads of departments and directors, who had been in their positions for 8 years or more, earning between 8k and 15k, which was often about the same a Qatari secretaries.

Since government departments are under so much pressure to hire Qatari staff, and there are so few Qatari staff willing or able to take jobs, it means the job seekers can demand whatever they want, in the same dysfunctional supply/demand relationship that means that landlords can charge 10k for a 2 bedroom apartment.

Bangkok has 2 airports. Old BIA and new Swarnaboomi airport. which one you used?

You shud've seen the mess at the old Bangalore Airport being the IT hub and all.... It was pathetic!! Thankfully we have a new airport which i havent seen yet but its much better than the old one(I've heard).

Best airport experience I've had was at Bangkok. People are extremly polite and helpful

I dream of a better tomorrow where Chickens can cross the Road without having their motives questioned - Unknown

How come? I don't know, but seriously, being an admin girl is good money.

We had an intern who was straight out of high school with not a day's experience in any other job. She was offered 18k, and she complained about her wage to one of the royal family, saying it wasn't fair that she was earning so little. It was hilarious!!

I wish I was making this stuff up.

Gotta love their pride.

at my place the admin staff get maximum of 9-10k....

i don't know which place a Qatari admin staff get 20k....

____________________________________________________

Have Courage To Live.

Anyone Can Die.

So admin girls at your place get 20K & Qatari resident doctors at HMC get 14K,HOW COME!

Charan ..... dont know whether i asked u - how much u get ?? LOL ... anywayz ...

tatz a cool package ....

wat about other allowance i.e. Travel, Location, Air fare etc...

sum it up u will be reaching somewere near Qrs.50,000/- a month .... u r a Rich Tea Boy ....!! one Tea Plz ...LOOL

I get QR 35,000 a month as a TeaBoy :)

I have to agree.

Frankly I don't care how rude the staff are at airports. They're rude all over the world, so just get over it. You spend all of 5 minutes having to deal with them at passport control, so it's no big deal.

However, there is no way that there is proper security screening taking place for incoming luggage. Those guards aren't paying any attention to the monitors, and the same is true for incoming passengers. How else do you think we all get our bacon and pornography into the country?

And every country has designated queues for its nationals. It's totally normal and totally fine, just as every country also has queues just for air crew.

As for the salary question, the admin girls in my job are Qatari and do next to nothing and I know that they all get in excess of 20k, so I don't think it's unreasonable that government sector jobs in immigration wouldn't pay the same.

Look at how many countries, and indeed people there are in the EU.

And i still get all the hassle trying to get into my own country.

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NIL ILLEGITIMI CARBORUNDUM

To answer your questions about the salaries they recieve, it depends on their ranking. My boyfriend is a immigration office one of the ones that dress in traditional and he has been working there 6 years so his rank has gone up and his salary is higher than 25k, the xray scanner people and the airport security would get much less around 15/16k and the female immigration officers get less also.

Samya UK

Mizz QL 2008.... wake up bro !!! LOL

No wonder all the immigration & Police guys are rushing to give her their nos. she is the Miss QL 2007:)

hi nigelreid

For the last para of your thread..

Have you everbeen to US Boarding gates of Doha Airport?

I think No. There is seperate checking and X'ray scanning for US bound passengers at the boarding gate.

Baggeges for US flights are getting Xrayed seperately.

and I never heard about any security lapses in Doha Airport.

Try Indira Gandhi airport at Delhi. (And no there is nothing racist in this post).

They won't even let you IN to the terminal if you're more than 2 hours before take off and they make you wait (and CHARGE you for waiting) in the crappiest waiting area opposite the main departures terminal that I've ever seen. There is nothing but those white patio chairs, people sleeping on their suitcases, a toilet, and nothing else. The boarding gates are small too.

you can place a complain

http://www.moi.gov.qa/site/english/feedback/index.html

You can't teach experience

amnesia - back from holiday in Japan. hey singapore Airport is very professional. Kudos for you for teaching that Rascal a lesson :)

They walk right up to the counter...At least in Kuwait they let us use the GCC lines if no one is in it...

Getting through that part is the worst part of flying out of Doha...

the line in the left is for GCC nationals (not Qataris only). Just like airports all over Europe has an EU citizens lines

wow....thats nice...you must be really nice with complaints.

and there is a special line for GCC passports in the immigration hall

perhaps my source is baloney, but that source works at the airport

I swear with every inch in my bone that it is IMPOSSIBLE that they are getting

"25,000 QR + they earned a month (yes, apparently so, I am reliably informed)"

Now I shall explain how I know. I'm a senior with a Legal background and in a BANK and I barely get that.

Now I also asked this question to the HEAD of Civil Aviation and Airport Affairs who said that is BS and they get far far less.

As for rudeness, go to France, check out how rude they are there at the airport.

The only airport where they've been nice to me is in Japan.

At Qatar airport (I just arrived this morning) I had a rude indian security guy try to shove me out of the GCC cue saying "Foreigners over there". So I kindly said "Shove me again, and I'll break your hand off and next time say "Excuse me sir, do you have a GCC passport". (I then complained to the senior official who then took the person off duty and replaced him with someone else).

@Vegas, there's a special line for EU in England, special line for Chinese only in China, special line for Japanese in Japan... *sighs* why can't there be a special line for GCC nationals in Qatar?

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Mr. Q's Blog - A Qatari's view on Qatar.

You can't teach experience

Loool no im not, but the Qatari immigration staff at the airport must be just really bored i guess...

Samya UK

Samya .... i was one among tat officer in airport who gave u the number ... why didn't us call me bak...LOL

she is super duper hot right samya ;)

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Samya, you must be really attractive lady :-)

Doha airport is the funniest airport... everytime i go there i get all the poice and immigration officers try and give me their numbers.. well actually i cant complain, thats how i met my boyfriend and weve been together nearly 2 years.. lool

Samya UK

Firstly, I'm not American.

Secondly, if you think sending SMS when you're meant to be manning an X-ray machine for bombs is acceptable, then you are clearly being silly.

IF YOU think there are not cecking your luggage in x-ray next time you will put some thing not allowed in the flight. you can learn how they will catch you if they are sending SMS.

Why you think americans are capable enough of giving lessons on security when they can't even theirs own

be reasonable please