King Hussein International Airport

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Aqaba Airport
IATA: AQJ – ICAO: OJAQ
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Royal Wings
Location Aqaba
Elevation AMSL 173 ft / 53 m
Coordinates 29°36′41.83″N 035°01′05.04″E / 29.6116194, 35.0180667
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
01/19 9,842 3,000 Asphalt

Aqaba Airport (also known as King Hussein Int´l Airport (IATA: AQJ, ICAO: OJAQ)) (Arabic: مطارالملك الحسين الدولي‎) is an airport located in the vicinity of Industrial City (Aqaba International Industrial Estate - lang|ar|مدينة العقبة الصناعية الدولية}}), northern suburb of Aqaba in Jordan. 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 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.

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. There is 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 regular visitors on land-away cross country training exercises. Annual passenger figures have risen from around 20,000 per year in the early days to over 90,000 in the year 2000. 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 Aquaba is Royal Wings, the commuter airline 100%-owned by Royal Jordanian Airlines. It operates about ten flights a week to Amman, though extras are frequently scheduled, sometimes to coincide with passenger changeover on cruise ships. The airline operate Q-Dash 8 aircraft that undertake the journey in 50 minutes to both Amman airports. The airline also undertakes about six charter flights to Europe, with European charter airlines adding a further dozen. German carriers are particularly well represented.

Just a few km from Aqaba is the Israeli tourist resort of Eilat, which attracts many European tourists. Eilat Airport is within city limits and surrounded by built up areas. Its normal traffic consists of ATR and DCH-7 aircraft, and although Arkia and El Al sometimes operate Boeing 737 and 757 into the airport, foreign tourists are normally flown to Ovda Airport, which is located 60 km (40 miles) from Elat and predominantly used by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

Aqaba is an airport that can handle the largest jets-from the Boeing 747 to the Antonov An-124. It is also ironic that the success of the airport does, to a certain extent, ultimately rest on long lasting peace in the region. Photography is not permitted at the airport. Even though it does have a viewing gallery it is almost impossible to see anything because of sand storms that cling to the windows.

Contents

[edit] Airport Data

International, Heliport, Cargo Only, Aqaba 9 km (5miles), Position 29°36´43"N, 035°01´04"E, Elevation 53 m (173 ft), Operating hours 04:00-20:30 UTC, 2 Passenger Terminals, 1 Cargo terminal, 5 Aircraft Stands

[edit] Airfield Data

Fire Category 7 Emergency Services: First Aid Navigational Aids: DVOR/DME, 3NDBs Airfield Restrictions: Maintain within the Jordanian Airspace Runway 1: Heading 01/19, 3,000 m (9,842 ft), PCN 54/F/A/W/U, ICAO Cat. 4, Aircraft size max: All types, Lighting: simple approach CAT I

[edit] Airlines and destinations

[edit] Cargo Facilities

Domestic Cargo Only to Amman

[edit] Statistics

Statistics for Aqaba Airport
Year Total Passengers Cargo Handled (tons) Total operations
1998 92,648 93,349 5,005
1999 126,600 9,224 5,407
2000 155,340 12,541 7,207
2001 75,118 39,548  
2002 47,683 244,726 8,415
2003 97,136 408,471 11,611

[edit] Passenger facilities

Annual Capacity 1,000,000, 4 check-in desks, 2 gates, 1 baggage claim belt, 200 short term parking spaces, Post Office, Bank, Cafeterias, VIP Lounge, Duty Free Shop, Gift Shop, First Aid

[edit] New developments

A new cargo terminal (6000 m²) and a new cargo apron (220x600 m) opened in January 2005.

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