Queen Alia International Airport

Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA)‎, is Jordan's main and largest airport and is located in Zizya 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of the capital city, Amman. It is named after Queen Alia, who died in a helicopter crash in 1977. The airport is home to the country's national flag carrier, Royal Jordanian Airlines and serves as a major hub for Jordan Aviation. A state-of-the-art new terminal was inaugurated in March 2013 to replace the airport's older two passenger terminals and one cargo terminal. The three original terminals were made obsolete once the new terminal officially began operations. In 2014, the new airport received the "Best Improvement by Region: The Middle East" and "Best Airport by Region: Middle East" awards by the Airport Council International. The awards are given to the airports which achieved the highest customer satisfaction in the ASQ Survey. Queen Alia International Airport was built in 1983 in response to the growing airport traffic needs that Amman Civil Airport could not accommodate. At the time, passenger traffic was increasing at a rate above the international average, recording 25–30% growth per annum and placing considerable pressure on airport facilities despite continuous expansion and development. In 1981, the number of arriving, departing, and transit passengers exceeded 2.3 million, while cargo traffic reached 62,000 tons and aircraft traffic topped 27,000 movements.