Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker (pictured) said Europe’s growth is being “impeded” because its airports are not open 24 hours a day.
The gulf airlines chief said airports in Europe are failing to compete with the emerging hubs in Dubai and Doha, which are claiming an increasing slice of international passenger traffic.
Al Baker, who was speaking at the launch of Qatar’s new all-business class daily flights from Heathrow to Doha, 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.”
He also said UK residents make “excessive” fuss about aircraft noise. “People in Qatar are not making as much fuss about noise as they are in Europe,” he said.
“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.
“Today’s aeroplanes are so efficient vis-a-vis noise emission that as soon as the aeroplane is out of the airport perimeter, you will hardly hear it.”
Referring to London, he said: “I know people require freedom but I think this is too excessive. Sometimes, the national interest must be considered.
“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.”
Qatar Airways will move its hub to Doha's new state-of-the-art airport Hamad International on May 27.