The Gulf States are experiencing an unprecedented investment in travel infrastructure, with billions of pounds being poured into new developments.
This is particularly true when it comes to airports in the oil rich region, as governments look to attract more business and travellers.
Dubai and Saudi Arabia are just the latest states to announce mega-projects that will transform the travel landscape.
Some £115 billion has been earmarked for expansion projects at the airports of the two respective countries, which will drastically increase capacity.
Yet, one country has already taken the lead when it comes to investment in airport infrastructure.
Qatar, which hosted the FIFA 2022 World Cup, boasts the world’s best airport, according to the website Airhelp.
The Doha Hamad Airport scores an 8.52, placing it top of the pops and ahead of its nearest rivals – Cape Town Airport and Nagoya Chubu Airport.
It is the operating base for the national carrier, Qatar Airways, and is visually stunning.
The airport opened its doors in 2014 and has one terminal with two parallel runways.
It has a capacity for 30 million passengers, but will soon increases that to 50 million.
Qatar’s government spent a cool £12 billion to construct the state-of-the-art airport, which was the first one specifically designed for the A380 superjumbo.
More than 1,000 architects, designers, engineering consultants, and project managers worked on the construction.
The airport even boasts its own 6,000 square metre mini-rainforest, called The Orchard.
The lushly landscaped garden space occupies the centre of the shopping area at the airport.
It is home to more than 300 trees, 25,000 plants and shrubs of 120 different species, that were brought from Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and other parts of the world.
All the plant species in this indoor tropical forest live under the shelter of a column-free canopy of high-performance glass, specially constructed to filter and control light to ensure their survival.
