Jordan's recently-opened Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) has registered a 8.6 per cent growth in passenger traffic which reached 549,861 in March compared to the 506,189 last year.

For the third consecutive month this year, Airport International Group (AIG), the Jordanian company responsible for the rehabilitation, expansion and operation of the new airport has recorded positive results.

This brings the year-to-date (YTD) passenger traffic rate up by around 5.6 per cent from 1.3 million last year to 1.47 million, said the AIG report.

The aircraft movement too witnessed a surge posting a 2.7 per cent increase from 5,545 in March last year to 5,692 pushing year to date air craft movements by almost 3.6 per cent, it added.

Commenting on the growth, CEO Kjeld Binger said, “The new Queen Alia International Airport is uniquely designed to absorb Jordan’s forecasted surge in passenger and aircraft traffic, as national efforts focus on promoting the Kingdom as a tourism destination and convenient stop-over point.”

“Upon its official launch, QAIA propelled its annual capacity from 3.5 million to 7 million passengers. When phase 1 is completed after demolition of the old terminal the capacity will be 9 million and we aim to take this figure up to 12 million passengers at later stages," explained Binger.

"Our steadily growing monthly and YTD traffic rates are a promising indication that things are going as planned, and we look forward to continuing our progress," he added.-TradeArabia News Service