Queen Alia airport could get bigger

The Airport International Group (AIG), which is carrying out the improvements and the rehabilitation process at the airport, has addressed the government to approve the move that would send the opening date of the new facility six months forward, a senior official at AIG said on Monday.

“The extension will increase the overall cost of the QAIA makeover, it will not place any additional financial burdens on the government,” said AIG chief executive Curtis Grad.

How the airport could look after the expansion plans are complete

Grad said that despite the global financial downturn, QAIA continues to witness strong growth with an exceptionally strong fourth quarter of 2008, indicating that passenger volumes for 2008 grew by 16% over the previous year.

He added that QAIA enjoys a strong attraction for travellers going east and west across the globe, pointing out to the company’s intermediate strategy to seek more north-south traffic.

“We are anticipating growth of around 2.5% for 2009, which is consistent with IATA’s view that the Middle East region is likely to buck the massive downturn being faced in many other markets,” explained Grad.

He added that QAIA has attracted no less than 23 new air services over the past 12 months, through both introduction of new airlines and increased frequencies or routes by the company’s established carriers.

AIG has undertaken an intensive phase of improvements and a range of upgrades to services in the existing terminals, while at the same time progressing the construction of the new terminal.

Renovations plans cover toilets, smoking areas and cleaning services.

Over the coming months, passengers will notice changes to the food and beverage areas, in addition to new services including valet parking, new stands and enhanced banking services, catering to both leisure and business travellers alike, he said.

AIG has secured a tender with Jordanian investors for food and beverage services he said.

The airport is scheduled to be fully operational in the second quarter of 2012 and is expected to accommodate over 9 million passengers per year, with a capacity expansion to 12m available.