Airport International Group Welcomes Royal Falcon to the Queen Alia International Airport
Airport International Group Welcomes Royal Falcon to the Queen Alia International Airport
Airport International Group (AIG), the Jordanian consortium responsible for the rehabilitation, expansion, and operation of the Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA), recently announced the addition of flights with Royal Falcon Airlines, an Amman-based carrier. The airline, operating for the first time from the QAIA, will service a number of regional destinations including weekly flights to Jeddah, Najjaf, Mosul, and Abu Dhabi.
Royal Falcon Airlines inaugurated its first flight in 2009, inspired by the vision of His Majesty King Abdullah II to establish a second national carrier. Complimenting the services provided by Royal Jordanian Airlines, Royal Falcon continues to carry out its mission while modernizing and upgrading its services, renewing its fleet of aircraft, and expanding its route network. The airline currently covers a network of seven destinations and is still expanding.
“This is an exciting time to welcome Royal Falcon to the Queen Alia International Airport,” commented Kjeld Binger, CEO of Airport International Group. “The launch of this new service will give passengers more travelling options and will add more depth to the services available at QAIA. The addition of Royal Falcon Airlines to QAIA network supports our objective of increasing transportation links between Amman and major regional and global destinations.”
Mr. Ziad Hanandeh, president and CEO of Royal Falcon added to Binger’s remarks, commenting, “At Royal Falcon, we felt that now was the right time to expand our services to include flights from the QAIA. Everyone involved in Jordan’s aviation industry is looking forward to the opening of the new state-of-the-art terminal at the end of 2012, and we wanted to establish our operations ahead of the transition. It is an honor for us to contribute to the growth of the Kingdom’s international airport and aviation industry.”
The additional flights with Royal Falcon add to the airport’s strong momentum. In January 2012, the number of travelers coming through Jordan’s premier airport exceeded 463,000 marking a 19.08% increase from January 2011. Aircraft movements (ACMs) reached over 5,000 in January, representing a 2.67% increase from the same time in 2011. The additional traffic through Royal Falcon is expected to contribute to this sustained growth.
The US $750 million investment by AIG – with additional US $100 million for rehabilitating the terminals currently in use – is intended to develop QAIA as a regional niche hub. Since AIG took over responsibility for the operation and development of the airport in 2007, passenger traffic has increased 40% in this period to reach nearly 5.5 million travellers in 2011. Flights to and from Amman have increased by over 40% in the same period. The number of flights stood at 650 flights per week in summer of 2011.