Qatar Reopens Doha to Foreign Airlines as Hub Recovery Begins

Qatar is allowing foreign airlines to gradually resume flights at Hamad International Airport after regional tensions disrupted normal operations.

The Qatar Civil Aviation Authority said the return will happen in phases, showing that the airport is reopening carefully rather than moving back to full capacity at once.

Hamad International plays a major role in global aviation. In 2025, the airport handled 54.3 million passengers and 282,975 aircraft movements.

Qatar Airways kept limited service running during the disruption

During the restricted period, Qatar Airways continued operating a small number of approved flights through special relief corridors. These services helped maintain essential links and supported affected passengers, but they were far from normal hub operations. Early limited flights included major European cities such as London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Madrid, Rome, and Frankfurt.

Summer expansion shows Qatar Airways is moving back into growth mode

At the same time, Qatar Airways is scaling up for summer. The airline said it will serve more than 150 destinations from June 16 to September 15, covering Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Americas, and Oceania.

Doha’s recovery reflects wider pressure on Gulf aviation

Qatar Airways said its scheduled operations were temporarily suspended in early March 2026 because of the closure of Qatari airspace, and from March 7, the airline began running only limited relief and inbound corridor flights to a small number of major cities.

Pressure on Gulf hubs has affected not only flight availability but also airline costs and long-haul connectivity between Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Photo by Jirayu Koontholjinda on Unsplash