$ 5b New International Airport in Doha

THE construction work of the new $ 5.5 bn Doha International Airport (NDIA) began at the heart of the construction site in the State of Qater recently.

The New Doha International Airport will fulfil three critical roles: Qatar as the gateway to the world; hub for the country's national airline Qatar Airways and other carriers; and as a cargo and aircraft maintenance centre.

NDIA is scheduled to open in 2009 at a cost of $ 2.5 bn in the first phase and will be capable of handling 12 million passengers a year, together with 750,000 tonnes of cargo. Once fully developed in 2015 at a cost of $5.5bn, the airport is expected to handle up to 50 million passengers and 2 million tonnes of cargo a year. One of the project's key features is that 40% of the site will be built on reclaimed land from teh Arabian Gulf.

Qatar Airways will manage the new airport, designed to help shape Doha as a key regional and global aviation hub.

The new airport will be the world's first to be designed and built specifically for Airbus's new A380-800 double-decker 'super jumbo' - the largest passenger aircraft ever built.

The A380 will be capable of carrying more than 550 passengers, with Qatar Airways a launch customer taking delivery of the first of its four A380s in 2009, the year the new airport opens.

Meanwhile, Qatar Airways has reinforced its position as one of the fastest growing airlines in the world by launching two more routes in January with scheduled flights to Johannesburg and Cape Town, the airline's first foray into South Africa.

Qatar Airways operates four flights a week between Qatar and both cities in South Africa, using an Airbus A330-200 in a two-class configuration of 24 seats in business and 248 in economy.

The addition of South Africa takes Qatar Airways' global network to 59 destinations.

The new routes come just eight days after the airline began operating scheduled flights between Doha and Yangon, capital of Myanmar, in southeast Asia, including Colombo.