Airport International Group (AIG) – a consortium led by Abu Dhabi-based financial services company Invest AD - celebrated the completion of the second phase of the New Terminal Project at Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) in Jordan.

The inauguration ceremony was carried out in the presence of the Crown Prince of Jordan HRH Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II as well as Jordanian Prime Minister, HE Hani Al Mulki, the country’s Minister of Transport, HE Yahya Kasabi, as well as a large number of ministers, senators and ambassadors and executives of aviation companies and local community organisations.

The second phase of QAIA’s New Terminal Project adds over 43,000 sq m to the airport’s total area, raising its annual passenger capacity from the current seven million to up to 12 million passengers, with future plans to increase capacity even further to 16 million passengers per year. As a result of the expansion, which was carried out at a cost of $214 million, the total number of gates in operation at QAIA has nearly doubled from 13 to 25. Two fixed link bridges can accommodate the world’s largest airplane, the Airbus A380.

The expansion’s cutting-edge facilities also include two new business lounges, two new duty-free areas and eight new prayer rooms, as well as larger monitors, additional charging stations and an upgraded wi-fi system. In addition, 10 additional travelators, 24 escalators and 18 lifts have also been installed in the expansion, to enhance QAIA’s efficient transit process and allowing passengers to continue to make their way quickly and comfortably across the airport.

Commenting on the inauguration of the second phase of the airport’s extension, the chief executive officer of Invest AD, Faras Al Ramahi, said: “This much-anticipated completion of QAIA’s second expansion phase is an extraordinary milestone, and a result of an ambitious vision and a successful partnership between the group and the Jordanian Government, which has been chosen as one of the top 40 private-public partnerships in the world. This has led the airport to be chosen as the best airport in the region. We will continue to ensure that the quality provided by the consortium is maintained.”

Since embarking on the expansion of the airport with the new terminal in March 2013, QAIA has marked many achievements. It hit new passenger traffic milestones with record-breaking months in both 2015 and 2016, and has grown its airline network, and gained significant ground in the rankings of the Airports Council International’s (ACI) Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Survey, the world’s leading airport passenger satisfaction benchmark programme.

The number of passengers the airport could accommodate has increased from 3.8 per year in 2007 to 12 million passengers. The airport has further bolstered its position as Jordan’s prime gateway to the world by receiving, for the second consecutive year, first place for its performance in the 2014 and 2015 ACI ASQ surveys in the category of ‘Best Airport by Region: Middle East’, and ‘Best Improvement by Region: Middle East’ category based on its 2014 performance. - TradeArabia News Service