Hamad International Airport opened earlier this year after a series of delays

Etihad Airways has announced the airline’s four daily passenger flights from Abu Dhabi to Doha will now operate from the new Hamad International Airport.

Freighter operations to the new airport will commence from May 18th.

The airline’s first flight EY 399 to the new airport departs Abu Dhabi International Airport earlier and touched down HIA an hour later.

The return flight EY 390 departs Doha on the same day at 04:15, and arrives in Abu Dhabi at 06:15.

All Etihad Airways ticketing and check-in, gates, baggage services and customer service operations will be working out of Terminal 1 today.

Captain Richard Hill, Etihad Airways’ chief operations officer, said: “We believe moving our operations to the new state-of-the-art airport is a positive step which will offer our guests newer and more spacious facilities and enhance their travel experience flying in and out of Doha.”

Opened at the end of April, HIA is designed to handle 29 million passengers annually and has three times the capacity of the existing Doha International Airport.

An upgraded range of facilities and services have been introduced at the new 600,000 square metre passenger terminal, including larger check-in areas and newly designed retail and dining outlets.

Upgrades to the baggage handling system and security areas have also been made.

The UAE flag carrier started operations from Abu Dhabi to the Qatari capital in 2006 and currently offers four daily flights between the two capitals.