Qatar Airways CEO said European Airports should be open 24/7

Al Baker says that European airports, namely London, need to open airports on a 24-hour basis in order to compete with passenger traffic in Middle Eastern hubs such as Dubai and Doha.

He said: “The thing that is impeding Europe’s growth is that airports are locked up from 11 o’clock at night to 5:30 in the morning, which is a very critical time for east-west transfers. If you don’t increase the airport size at Heathrow and Gatwick, you’ll be overtaken by other airports, which will connect to your country by high-speed train.”

Al Baker went on to say that UK residents make too much ‘fuss’ about aircraft noise: “People in Qatar are not making as much fuss about noise as they are in Europe. If you live under a flight path of an airport, I assure you, over a period of time you will not even hear the aircraft passing over your house.”