In June, the Latvian airline airBaltic will launch flights from Riga to the Jordanian capital city of Amman and the Lebanese capital of Beirut. Nonstop flights to Amman will begin on June 1, and the first flight to Beirut will be offered on June 2.

airBaltic will fly from Riga to Amman on Tuesdays and Saturdays (and in the opposite direction on Wednesdays and Sundays). Passengers will board a Boeing 737 aircraft for a flight that will last for four hours and 15 minutes. One-way ticket prices will begin at LVL 89 (EUR 126), including airport and transaction fees.

Iberia is to launch its own flights between its Madrid base the Amman home of oneworld partner Royal Jordanian. RJ already operates this route, carrying Iberia's prefix under their code-sharing agreement. The Spanish airline will now also fly its own aircraft too between the two cities, with an initial single Airbus A319 a week during the summer peak, from 3 July to the end of October. It will also operate directly between Madrid and Damascus, from 31 July to the end of October, again with a weekly A319.

Despite the combination of a slowdown in global travel and the outbreak of the so-called "swine flu", Jordan's aviation sector remains in robust health. Construction of a new state-of-the-art terminal at the country's principal airport and market liberalisation are helping the country lay the foundations for future growth.

Given the current climate in the global aviation industry, the sector got off to a good start this year in Jordan. "Passenger movements are up 5.28% over June 2008, with an increase of 1.38% year-to-date over the same period last year. Aircraft movements show even stronger growth, up 12.69% over June 2008 with an increase of 13.39% year-to-date over the same period last year," Curtis Grad, the CEO of Airport International Group (AIG), the strategic investor and operator of Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA), told OBG.

QAIA is the principle gateway into the country and handles over 90% of all air traffic in the kingdom.

The results follow an already impressive performance in 2008 that set a new record in terms of passenger traffic and aircraft movements. According to AIG figures, 4.4m passengers passed through QAIA in 2008, up 16.0% from 3.8m in the previous year and setting a new record for the airport. Aircraft movements also increased substantially, up 14.9% from 44,700 in 2007 to 51,300 in 2008.

Growth is expected to continue over the next two years, though at a much more stable pace. "We expect growth in passenger numbers of around 2-3% per year in 2009 and 2010, and growth in line with GDP growth after 2010," says Grad.

In addition to the continuing expansion of the Royal Jordanian route network currently under way, QAIA has recently managed to attract a number of new operators, diverse in both business model and geography. Newly launched low-cost carrier flyDubai chose Amman as one of its first two destinations, while premium Kuwaiti carrier Wataniya launched daily services in June. European carriers Austrian Airlines and Hungary's Malev have also introduced new flights this year that expand European connections to and from Jordan. Overall, 20 out of 35 airlines serving QAIA have increased frequency so far this year, according to AIG.

The numbers make it abundantly clear that the new facilities being built at the airport cannot come soon enough. The current terminal dates back to 1983 and was built to accommodate 3.5m passengers annually. With traffic already having well exceeded that number, passengers and operators alike are looking forward to a new 85,000 sq metre terminal currently under construction and expected to be fully operational by early 2012. The new terminal will have the capacity to handle over 9m passengers annually, with the potential to further expand to 12m.

Such rapid expansion can be in part attributed to the government's policy of deregulation and liberalisation of the aviation industry.

"We have already started implementing an open-skies policy. Many rounds have been conducted with EU delegates to prepare, discuss and negotiate a so-called 'comprehensive agreement', officially called the "Euro- Mediterranean Aviation Agreement", between the European Community and its 27 member states and The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. This agreement, which will allow European airlines to fly between Jordan and any EU member state, remove nationality restrictions, aims to further integrate Jordan into the European air transport market. This process of regulatory cooperation ensures the highest levels of safety, security, environmental sustainability of air transport and consumer benefits," the minister of transport, Sahel Majali, told OBG.

Although Aqaba's King Hussein International Airport already has an open-sky policy, further such agreements will be essential to filling up the additional capacity at QAIA's new terminal which, upon its completion, will be equipped to handle almost three times the number of passengers as the current facility. Some people have voiced concern that Jordan cannot compete against the already established hubs in places like Dubai or Qatar, and that the terminal being built is too large for the Jordanian market. "We won't see QAIA competing directly with the large global hubs like Dubai or Qatar. Our objective is to position QAIA as the hub of choice in the region to feed these larger hubs," argues Grad.

The massive construction and expansion of airport facilities in the region over the last few years, coupled with the increasing number of large long-haul aircraft, has created a great deal of new capacity. Through the expansion of its principle hub and a continuing focus on market liberalisation, Jordan looks set to not only support growing domestic demand but become a funnel for traffic to the larger regional hubs. "QAIA will feed the regional traffic that will help fill the seats on all those A380s," concludes Grad.

Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA), part of the Airport International Group, Jordan, has announced plans to invest $750 million in redevelopment of the airport and build state-of-the-art 86,000 sq m passenger terminal.

The announcement from Curtis Grad, CEO of Airport International Group QAIA, came on the last day of 'The Low Cost Airlines World MENA 2009' on Tuesday. 'We expect Phase I to be ready by early 2012. It will have a capacity to handle 9 million passengers. The Phase II will be able to handle additional 12 million passengers. We are looking at inbound traffic from Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai and Sharjah and other parts of GCC markets to link up with QAIA and benefit from it,' Grad said. 'There are already six Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) - Air Arabia, Jazeera Airways, Bahrain Air, Sama Airlines, Nas Air and Fly Dubai - that have a total of 80 arrivals and departures a week to Amman, Jordan,' he noted. QAIA, Grad said, had witnessed a 15 per cent jump in flight volumes during the year 'in addition to a 10 per cent increase in passenger numbers (in peak summer) and a four per cent increase in passenger numbers till date.' In his presentation on the conluding day, Tim Coombs, managing director, Aviation Economics said the barriers to start LCC will remain low considering that an airline operating 5 A320 aircraft can be set up with capital of just $10 million. The LCC model is well understood, easily copied and globally transferable today. And Hedge Funds / Private Equity industry has surplus funds of $150US billion. It is easy to start LCC even today, he remarked. According to Sherif Attia, CEO of Air Cairo, 2008 was very encouraging compared to the previous year. The increase in number of flights was up by 17 per cent, passenger load was up by 21 per cent, and while Egyptian carriers reaped higher business (19.7 per cent), the foreign carriers also had a good time with business up by 16.2 per cent. Shashank Nigam, founder & CEO, SimpliFlying, said, Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc) will be the next driving force for LCCs. If Dell can sell $3 million worth of products in a short span of time why can t LCCs take advantage of social media? It is entirely possible to clear distressed inventory on Twitter or Facebook. Connectivity Evangelist Air AsiaX CEO Azran Osman-Rani made a successful pitch to the audience for the need of Low Cost, Long Haul . Air AsiaX said it was set to start flights to Abu Dhabi, marking its first foray into the Middle East. Azran also confirmed that the airline has ordered 10 A350 aircraft recently. Stefan Pichler, CEO of Jazeera Airways who has been into the job barely four months, said he was very confident about the region s potential. 'The worst seems to be over and I can fairly say that second half of 2009 will be much better than the first half for Jazeera Airways,' he noted. Kevin Steele, chief commercial officer, Sama Airlines, said that 'Kerala (Indi Ltd.)