Airport International Group (AIG), the Jordanian company responsible for rehabilitation, expansion and operation of the Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA), has released its 2009 third quarter traffic performance report.
For the first time ever, QAIA handled over 500,000 passengers in both July and August, representing a 10% year-over-year increase. The month of September showed even stronger performance, up 20% from last year. Flight volumes have also shown remarkable growth, reaching 15% above 2008 with no less than 20 airline routes being added or increased in frequency, resulting in 62 additional weekly flights during the summer peak.
Curtis Grad, Chief Executive Officer of Airport International Group said “Undoubtedly, 2009 has been one of the most turbulent and challenging years for the aviation industry, however QAIA has witnessed remarkable traffic growth despite these adverse economic conditions”.
In addition, Mr. Grad commended the Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission of Jordan for the air service agreements recently signed with Spain, Kyrgyzstan, the Dominican Republic and Ethiopia during the ICAO air service conference held in Istanbul, which has paved the way for liberalizing air transport between Jordan and these countries.
The US750 million rehabilitation and expansion works at QAIA are well underway, including construction of a new state-of-the-art 100,000 square meter passenger terminal. AIG, under the terms of a 25-year concession agreement with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is responsible for the operation of the airport, the rehabilitation of existing facilities and the construction of the new terminal.
AIG is a Jordanian company with private shareholding by Invest AD (Abu Dhabi, UAE), Noor Financial Investment Company (Kuwait), Edgo Group (Jordan), Joannou & Paraskevaides (Overseas) Limited (Cyprus), J&P-Avax (Greece) and Aéroports de Paris Management (France).
