Departure
98%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Queen Alia International Airport (OJAI/AMM) is Jordan's principal international gateway, sited some 30 kilometres south of Amman near Zizya. It is a large, tightly controlled airport with two long parallel hard-surfaced runways, full ILS coverage and a busy mix of airline traffic, making it a straightforward but procedurally demanding destination for a simulator pilot flying IFR into the region.
Queen Alia International Airport serves the Jordanian capital, Amman, and is the country's largest airport and the hub of the national carrier, Royal Jordanian, as well as a base for Jordan Aviation. It is operated commercially by Airport International Group under a long-term concession. For a simulator pilot the field is of interest as a major Middle Eastern hub airport with long, well-equipped runways, a modern Foster + Partners-designed terminal with a distinctive domed roof inspired by Bedouin tents, and a steady flow of widebody airline traffic including Emirates' A380 service.
The airport lies in Jordanian airspace roughly 30 kilometres (about 18 miles) south of central Amman, near the town of Zizya. As the country's principal international airport it sits within controlled airspace served by Amman Approach, and traffic is sequenced by a full radar and tower service befitting a major hub. Amman's other airport, Amman Civil Airport (Marka), lies to the north within the capital itself and should not be confused with Queen Alia.
Queen Alia has two parallel physical runways, both hard-surfaced and lit. Runway 08L/26R is 12,003 feet long and is equipped with ILS at both ends. Runway 08R/26L is 11,987 feet long, lit along its length, with ILS available on the 26L approach; the 08R direction has no published ILS. Field elevation is 2,369 feet above mean sea level, at coordinates 31.7241 N, 35.9946 E.
Air traffic services are provided by Amman Approach on 128.9 MHz, with an ATIS broadcast on 127.6 MHz. Ground movements are handled on 121.9 MHz and the tower frequency is 119.8 MHz. Both main runway ends are served by instrument landing systems as noted above, supporting instrument approaches in the prevailing desert visibility conditions typical of the area.
Queen Alia International Airport was built in 1983 to relieve pressure on the older Amman Civil Airport, whose capacity could not keep pace with rapid growth in passenger and cargo traffic during the late 1970s and early 1980s; by 1981 the older airport was handling over 2.3 million passengers, 62,000 tonnes of cargo and more than 27,000 aircraft movements annually. The new airport was named after Queen Alia, wife of King Hussein, who died in a helicopter crash in 1977. Passenger facilities were originally designed for 3.5 million passengers a year, but traffic grew steadily, reaching over 6 million by 2012. In 2007 Airport International Group was awarded a 25-year concession to operate, rehabilitate and expand the airport, including construction of a new terminal designed by Foster + Partners, with a roof of 127 concrete domes inspired by Bedouin tents. The new terminal opened in March 2013, coinciding with the airport's 30th anniversary, replacing the original two passenger terminals and a cargo terminal. Further expansion followed, raising capacity to 12 million passengers a year by 2016, with a stated aim of reaching 16 million by 2032. Emirates introduced Airbus A380 service to Amman in September 2016, the first such service to the Levant, and continues to operate the type daily. The airport was closed to scheduled passenger traffic between March and September 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, reopening under health restrictions before all travel curbs were lifted in March 2022.
Queen Alia remains Jordan's busiest and largest airport, home to Royal Jordanian and a hub for Jordan Aviation, handling international scheduled and charter services from around 40 airlines. The airport is operated by Airport International Group under its long-term concession and has received several industry accreditations for customer experience and environmental performance. As a major controlled international aerodrome, prior permission and standard airline-airport coordination procedures apply to visiting traffic.