King Hussein International Airport
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King Hussein International Airport مطار الملك حسين الدولي Maṭār al-Malik Ḥusayn al-Duwalī | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | Aqaba Airports Company | ||||||||||
| Serves | Aqaba, Jordan | ||||||||||
| Focus city for | Royal Jordanian | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 173 ft / 53 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 29°36′41.83″N 35°1′5.04″E / 29.6116194°N 35.0180667°E | ||||||||||
| Website | www.aac.jo | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  AQJ Location of airport in Jordan | |||||||||||
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| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2023) | |||||||||||
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King Hussein International Airport, Arabic: مطارالملك الحسين الدولي, (IATA: AQJ, ICAO: OJAQ), also informally known as Aqaba Airport, is a minor international airport located in the vicinity of a northern suburb of Aqaba, Jordan. It is the country's sole other scheduled commercial airport besides the much larger Queen Alia International Airport in Amman.
Location
[edit]The location of Aqaba is unusual, for within a 15 miles (24 km) radius there are three other countries, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel. The airport has a single runway equipped with a category 1 instrument landing system (ILS). Thanks to its normally excellent weather conditions, the airport is rarely closed, though strong southerly winds bring sandstorms across the Red Sea from Egypt.[citation needed] Just across the border in Israel and nominally serving Eilat a new airport called Ramon Airport opened in 2019 despite earlier proposals to jointly develop airport infrastructure in the region following the Israel Jordan Peace Treaty of 1994.[1][2]
Operations
[edit]Annual passenger figures have risen from around 20,000 per year in the early days to over 90,000 in the year 2000.[citation needed] There are currently around 3,000 aircraft movements a year. A significant proportion of these are training flights, including those of the Royal Jordanian Air Force. The largest operator at Aqaba is Royal Jordanian.[citation needed]
Facilities
[edit]Terminal
[edit]The airport has a single 28,000 sq ft (2,600 m2) terminal building with just one departure gate and one baggage carousel, though the building is being extended. The facilities can cope when there is one aircraft to be handled, but on some occasions when there are three aircraft being turned around simultaneously things can become somewhat crowded. The capacity of the Terminal at present is 1.5 million passengers a year. The airport has 4 check-in desks, 2 gates, a cargo building and a cargo apron together with a parallel taxiway. The airport has one baggage claim belt, 200 short-term parking spaces, a post office, bank, cafeterias, VIP lounge, duty-free shop, and gift shops, and a clinic.[citation needed]
Infrastructure
[edit]A new cargo terminal (6000 m2) and a new cargo apron (220 m × 600 m) opened in January 2005. There are also separate buildings for General Aviation and a Royal Pavilion – King Abdullah II owns a palace along the shoreline and regularly visits. The Royal Jordanian Air Academy are also regular visitors on land-away cross country training exercises. The airport includes also buildings for the Ayla Aviation Academy, the Aero Wings for Industry's assembly plant for light planes, the Jordan Private Jets Services (JPJets)'s private jet terminal, and the Al Baddad International Group's maintenance centre.[3]
Airlines and destinations
[edit]The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Aqaba Airport:
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air Cairo | Cairo[4] |
| Royal Jordanian | Amman–Queen Alia[5] |
| Turkish Airlines | Istanbul[6] |
| Wizz Air | Abu Dhabi (suspended)[7][8] |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Israel, Jordan plan joint Aqaba airport". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 21 June 2006. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ "Israel's New Airport is Angering Jordan, a Rare Friend in the Region". Haaretz.
- ^ "Home". khiaops.com. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ aircairo.com - Route Map retrieved 6 January 2025
- ^ "Royal Jordanian 2024 Embraer E190/195-E2 Network Overview – 24DEC23".
- ^ turkishairlines.com - Flight Destinations and Current Flight Plan retrieved 6 January 2025
- ^ "Abu Dhabi's Wizz Air adds two new flight routes to Aqaba, Amman in Jordan". 9 February 2022.
- ^ "Wizz Air and Ryanair suspend flights to Aqaba, Jordan". ch-aviation.com. 22 November 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
External links
[edit]
Media related to King Hussein International Airport at Wikimedia Commons
