Amman Marka International

General information

Located 35 kilometers from the heart of the capital Amman, Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) was inaugurated in 1983 to become Jordan's key gateway to the world. The airport served 5.42 million passengers in 2010, in addition to providing air cargo and other aviation support services. The airport has recently been ISO certified and AIG is investing systematically in upgrading technologies and work practices to enhance QAIA's customer service levels and operational performance.
The airport, which extends across 19 million square meters, includes two parallel runways of 3,660 meters in length and 61 meters in width, with a separation of 1,446 square meters. The airport's existing twin terminals contains dedicated departure and arrival areas covering 68,000 square meters. The terminals are connected via a link bridge providing travelers convenient flight connections and access to various amenities including duty free stores, newsstands, restaurants, snack bars and coffee shops.
In November 2007, Airport International Group, under the terms of the 25-year concession agreement became responsible for the operation of the airport, the rehabilitation of existing facilities, and the construction of the new passenger terminal. AIG's total capital commitment is US$700m (later increased to US$800m to facilitate expansion/improvement of the design). Funding for the project has been secured through the International Finance Corporation (commercial arm of the World Bank), the Islamic Development Bank and a syndication of commercial lenders, as well as shareholder equity.
Today, QAIA is undergoing a complete transformation. The existing terminals are in the process of refurbishment while, in parallel, extensive construction is underway to build a new 86,000 square meter state-of-the-art passenger terminal (design later expanded to 100,000 square meters) with the capacity to handle 9 million passengers per year.