Qatar’s international airport achieved the highest global standard for IT Service Management, a key milestone in HIA’s Smart Airport Vision
27 February 2018
DOHA, QATAR – Hamad International Airport (HIA) is proud to announce that it has achieved ISO/IEC 20000:2011 certification, the international gold standard for excellence in IT Service Management.
The prestigious certificate was received by Engr. Badr Al Meer, Chief Operating Officer at HIA from Mr. Peter Chamberlain, Deputy Head of Mission of the British Embassy, on behalf of British Standards Institution Group.
To provide a solid foundation for its Smart Airport Vision, HIA developed and implemented a comprehensive IT Service Delivery Management framework that was a rigorously audited by the British Standards Institute (BSI) in November 2017. Attainment of ISO/IEC 20000:2011 demonstrates that HIA has established necessary controls and procedures to consistently deliver cost-effective and high-quality IT services, ultimately enabling world-class experience to more than 30 million passengers transiting through the airport on a yearly basis as well as its airport stakeholders and staff.
Engr. Badr Mohammed Al Meer, Chief Operating Officer at HIA said: “HIA is at the forefront of innovation with a solid Smart Airport Vision supported by talented staff. ISO/IEC 20000 certification is the greatest reward and acknowledgement of our world-class IT services and will support our current digital transformation. As one of the fastest-growing hubs in the world, we are committed to providing consistent highest-quality services to our passengers and business partners, and continuous improvement in all aspects of IT Service Delivery will help achieve even greater accomplishments in the future.”
The certification assures that the principles of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) have been instituted in how the airport operates, plans, manages and delivers services to its customers, as highlighted by Suhail Kadri, Vice President Information Technology at HIA: “HIA’s holistic approach of the aviation and travel business places quality at the core of service development for the benefit of all parties: our passengers, our customers, our staff members and internal stakeholders. IT services are central to our business in the traditional sense to provide the highest reliability, security, and safety standards for our operations; however, they have also assumed strategic importance for enabling innovation and digital transformation. HIA’s internal IT department has developed and standardized over fifty end-to-end IT services and has established the framework to support new technology and services in line with the Smart Airport Vision. This achievement is proof that our world-class IT infrastructure, a key enabler for business and innovation, is managed to the highest global standards. We are proud of the remarkable team work and exceptional skills demonstrated by the HIA team.”
Jamal Dalli, Business development Manager BSI Qatar, said: "this great achievement is a strong stepping stone for Hamad International Airport towards excellence and innovation. I would like to congratulate the entire project team, senior management and all employees who were involved in this project."
With its target of serving more than 50 million passengers, HIA is currently a candidate for the “Best Airport in the World” award by Skytrax which also classified it as a five-star airport in 2017, making it one among only six airports in the world to achieve this prestigious status. It was ranked Sixth Best Airport in the World by the 2017 Skytrax World Airport Awards, moving up four places from 2016.
