DOHA: Bechtel, which was responsible for engineering, project and construction management of Hamad International Airport, is to blame for the delay in opening the new airport, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said yesterday.
Bechtel failed to meet safety requirements for the new airport set by Qatar’s Civil Defence directorate and that was why it could not be inaugurated on April 1 as planned, Al Baker said while addressing a press conference in Chicago yesterday.
“Bechtel is actually responsible for the delay in opening the new airport,” Al Baker was quoted as saying in a dispatch filed by Hasan Abu Arafat, deputy managing editor of Arabic daily Al Sharq.
The CEO of the national carrier said Hamad International Airport will start operations in full by the year-end.
He said Qatar Airways was making profits, but since it was a private company, it did not prefer to announce its financial results. “We don’t prefer to announce our profit figures,” Al Baker was quoted as saying.
The airline was expanding its global network because it was making profits, said the CEO. He said Qatar Airways would keep acquiring airlines around the world to add to its profits, Al Sharq said.
