HIA to open 20 more E-Gates and add massive new art installation this year
It was more than a year ago that the Hamad International Airport (HIA) made E-Gates free to use for passengers, thus making their trip a bit more hassle free.
The facility was later extended to expatriates living in Qatar as well.
The move has become an unprecedented success and soon, the number of E-Gates in the country proved to be insufficient. So the HIA has decided to open more E-Gates at the airport, reported The Peninsula.
“We currently have 40 E-Gates and will add 20 more this year after an agreement with the Ministry of Interior’s Passport Department,” said HIA’s Chief Operating Officer Badr Al Meer, according to a report in Al Sharq newspaper.
At the moment, the HIA is operating 40 electronic gates — 19 in the arrivals lounge and 21 in the departures lounge — helping facilitate the smooth entry and exit of passengers. E-gates work with the identification of travelers’ vital data including fingerprints, iris scan and personal travel documents.
The number of E-gate users at HIA almost doubled in 2017, compared to the preceding year. As many as 2.46m passengers used the E-gates last year, including 1.28m arrivals and 1.18m. In 2016, a total of 1.41m passengers had used the facility.
One will need to have a valid Qatar ID to use the facility. Once you register your fingerprints at the airport, the whole process will take a few seconds, cutting down waiting time at immigration drastically. Children are however not allowed through E-Gates.
New art installations
Al Meer said that new art installations will soon join the iconic yellow lamp bear exhibit.
“The lamp bear is one of the iconic landmarks that attract the attention of a large number of passengers, but we need another iconic statue. This will be done in cooperation with the Qatar Museums Authority and we’ve more than one art piece to be installed at the airport. In March, a huge wooden statue, bigger than the lamp bear, will be installed,” he said.
Earlier, Qatar Museums had announced that ‘Small Lie,’ by American pop artist KAWS, will join the Lamp Bear at the HIA.
I fully agree with you. There should be some arrangements for the residing families and bachelors should be separated. We too suffer a lot while in the zig-zag que, with our children. They should do something otherwise e-gate is of no use to us.
what about families when coming in with children we still need to scroll in the zigzag lines.. after recent experience which was not at all in our comfort zone.. would recommend and humbly suggest that if children E gates cannot be arranged then at least the resident family should have separate area to pass because with children and infants its really hard to be in line for so long and also bachelors should be separated.