There are reading rooms (where no one is reading because they’re all playing with their phones), there are art installations (same), there are children’s play areas (where parents are paying attention, because the climby stuff is, perhaps unwisely, made of hard, bruise-inducing bronze).

And, of course, there are shops. Hermès and the rest, it turns out, aren’t even the daftest. That title belongs to a store that sells gold – not just jewellery but actual solid slabs of the stuff – and is called, with all the subtlety you’d expect from the local super-rich, Gold.

Further wallet-emptying opportunities are found at the far north end of the terminal, around the Orchard. This spectacular, 65,000 sq ft indoor forest opened in 2022, and though it’s arguably a (literal) fig leaf for yet more high-end retail – Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Armani et al cluster round it, in much the same way JD Sports sits near the lavvies at Manchester – it’s also rather lovely. Above it, a great curved geodesic glass ceiling lets in light, and looks only slightly like a sci-fi movie’s interstellar spaceship shortly before the computer malfunctions and starts killing all the poor hyper sleeping humans. 

You can walk through it at canopy height on a nice curved walkway, or potter around its verdant green spaces at ground level. Down there, there’s a slight “tramps in the municipal park” vibe thanks to the number of people having a kip on the benches (no cider, fortunately) – but this is still, unquestionably, the nicest bit of airport I’ve ever been to.

Was I sorry to leave, then? Well, not so much. And therein lies the rub (or pub, if it’s Manchester). Because yes, Hamad is brilliant, and Manchester is making great efforts to be so; but airports are only ever going to be a necessary evil, like estate agents or Michael Ball. The best will always be the one you can leave quickest.

Ed Grenby travelled as a guest of Qatar Airways (qatarairways.com). Manchester-Doha returns cost from £630, or £3,256 in business class.