Jordanian company AIG recently organised a comprehensive local media tour of Amman's Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) showcasing the latest infrastructure developments taking place at the airport, including the renovation of QAIA's existing terminals and

construction progress at the new state-of-the-art 100,000sq m terminal, which is expected to open in the Spring of 2012.

All of which is good news for Amman?s main retailer Aldeasa, which has seen sustained traffic and sales growth at the location as part of its Middle East operation (including Kuwait City Airport) which performed better than any other international market in 2009, according to Aldeasa Ceo Jos? Mar?a Palencia.

This follows substantial upgrading and expansion work at Aldeasa's points of sale in the first quarter of 2009 and impressive traffic levels, with numbers passing 4.77m in 2009, an increase of 6.5% on 2008's performance.

In the recent media tour, AIG Ceo Curtis Grad delivered a brief presentation on the latest developments – all costing around $750m – before leading the tour through the existing terminals, highlighting the recently-enhanced food and beverage area, in addition to the new news stands and pharmacy. The tour also took in the construction site of the new $500m terminal, where engineers at the site briefed visitors on the different phases of the construction and the project's overall progress.

CONTINUED STRONG TRAFFIC GROWTH
‘We are continuing to experience strong traffic growth despite the dire global economic conditions of the past year,’ commented Grad. ‘Passenger and aircraft traffic results of 2009 were impressive, with passengers exceeding 4.77 million passengers, a 6.5% year-over-year increase, driven by a 12.6% increase in aircraft movements.

‘We have initiated a series of interim improvements to the existing terminals to provide passengers with an enhanced travel experience, while we work feverishly on the new world-class QAIA terminal, which will open in two short years from now.’

AIG is a Jordanian company with private shareholding by Invest AD (Abu Dhabi, UAE), Noor Financial Investment Company (Kuwait), Edgo Group (Jordan), Joannou & Paraskevaides (Overseas) Limited (Cyprus), J&P-Avax (Greece) and A?roports de Paris Management (France).

Foster & Partners are the designers for the new terminal facility which will have a capacity for 9m passengers, as compared with the existing airport terminal's 3.5m capacity.