QAIA Sees Continuous Growth in September Traffic Results

Airport International Group (AIG), the Jordanian consortium responsible for the rehabilitation, expansion and operation of the Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA), recently announced its September traffic results, achieving new growth records in passenger volume (PAX) and aircraft movement(ACM).

Passenger traffic at QAIA was up 5.69% last month compared to September 2011, reaching a new record of 545,941 PAX. From January to the end of September, QAIA has recorded 4,827,192 PAX, a remarkable increase of 17.42% over the same period in 2011. Aircraft movement at the airport saw a stable, healthy increase of 1.74% compared to the same month in 2011, with 5,564 ACM. Year-to-date ACMs have increased 7.25%, reaching 51,063 by the end of September. Meanwhile, cargo traffic reached 69,541 tons, up 7.88% over the same period from last year.

“As the opening of the new airport terminal is rapidly approaching, September’s results are very pleasing and promising,” commented AIG CEO Kjeld Binger. “These positive results and the increases seen in previous months– despite political and social instability throughout the region – further support our confidence in the upcoming developments at the airport. However, it is also clear that the extremely high growth we have seen so far during 2012 has peaked. We therefore expect closer to normal growth in the coming months.

AIG is investing an estimated US $750 million in the construction of a landmark new terminal — now 91% complete — which will serve as a source of pride and prosperity for all Jordanians. This new terminal will significantly increase the airport capacity to 9 million passengers annually, nearly three times the current airport capacity of 3.5 million passengers annually. Future expansions will further increase the airport capacity to 12 million passengers a year. AIG has also spent US $100 million on rehabilitating and improving the existing terminals to enable the airport to handle the continuous growth in passenger traffic.