My only relatively fond memories of Doha’s airport unusually involve xDOH, that is the airport used before Hamad International first opened in 2014. It was 2007, and I was chuffed about having been told by a Qatar Airways phone representative that an Amman (AMM) – Doha (DOH) – Hong Kong (HKG) one-way in business was the same price as economy. Never mind Priority Pass Doha, I was gearing up for a visit to the old airport’s Premium Terminal (anyone remember that place?).
Fast forward to my getting Priority Pass access, and transiting the current Doha airport. Save for one early afternoon flight three years ago (after a brief stay in downtown Doha), I’ve generally flown with the rest of the herd during the peak early morning bank. That means trying to get into lounges — as miserable as they were — often resulted in a long wait.
Insert Yogi Berra cliché here.
Well, guess what…as of May 15th, the three Priority Pass Doha lounges are being removed from the network.
Those include:
– Al Maha Lounge (Southeast)
– Al Maha Lounge (North/Orchard)
– Al Maha Lounge (South Node)
This isn’t to say that Priority Pass members will be entirely devoid of options in Doha. For those that have non-lounge usage, the Sleepover (rest areas) in the North/South nodes of the airport will still be available.
Regardless, for an airport I already wasn’t fond of, this is just another reason (current crises notwithstanding) to look elsewhere to transit the region.
Thank you for the report! I was planning to use one of the Al Maha lounges, my connecting flight from DOH is around 3am on the 15th.
Do you think they’ll let us check in before midnight and that way we can rest/refresh before our flight?