| King Hussein International Airport مطار الملك حسين الدولي |
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|---|---|---|---|
| A Royal Jordanian aircraft at the airport | |||
| IATA: AQJ – ICAO: OJAQ
AQJ
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Royal Wings | ||
| Location | Aqaba | ||
| Hub for | Jordan Aviation | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 173 ft / 53 m | ||
| Website | |||
| 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 - 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 sandstorm 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 Aqaba is 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 Embraer E175 Regional Jets that undertake the journey in 45 minutes These jets have replaced the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft used by the Royal Wings subsidiary and have a total of 72 seats, 10 of which are business class. The airline also undertakes about six charter flights to Europe, with European charter airlines adding a further dozen. German carriers are particularly well represented.
Aqaba is an airport that can handle the largest jets. 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 |
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
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
| 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 |
Annual Capacity 1,000,000, 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. The airport includes also buildings for the Ayla Aviation Academy, the Royal Jordanian 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.[2]
A new cargo terminal (6000 m²) and a new cargo apron (220x600 m) opened in January 2005.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Alexandria Airlines | Cairo |
| Arkefly | Seasonal: Amsterdam |
| Finnair | Seasonal: Helsinki |
| Jetairfly | Seasonal: Brussels |
| Royal Jordanian | Amman-Queen Alia |
| Royal Wings Airlines | Amman-Queen Alia |
| Scandinavian Airlines | Seasonal: Copenhagen, Stockholm-Arlanda |
| Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium | Seasonal: Brussels |