Clients: Jordan's Ministry of Transport and Queen Alia International Airport
Consultancy services (2021-present)
AERTEC has provided its consultancy services for the feasibility study on improvements to the infrastructure, operations and handling of perishable goods at the cargo terminal of Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) in Amman.
QAIA is one of Jordan's key assets and this has been recognised by the Hashemite Kingdom, as illustrated by the large investments made over the past 10 years. As a result, passenger numbers soared from 3.8 million in 2007 to 8.4 million in 2018.
However, air cargo figures have not followed suit. The volume of cargo handled in 2008 was 86,000 tonnes, while in 2017 it reached 110,400 tonnes, an increase of just 28%. This is a far cry from the surge in passengers, but also from the GDP growth experienced between those two years (USD 22.2 billion in 2008 compared to USD 42.3 billion in 2017).
Rules of origin are the criteria necessary to determine the national origin of a product and the corresponding rights and restrictions. Exporters from Jordan are required to comply with these rules in order to qualify for preferential access to the EU market. This initiative is part of the EU's growing support to Jordan in the context of the current Syrian refugee crisis and it is aimed at making it easier for Jordan to export to the EU, encouraging investment and creating jobs for both Jordanian citizens and Syrian refugees.
The framework developed by the AERTEC team was as follows:
¬ Assessment of problems and needs
¬ Analysis of policies and institutions
¬ Identification and appraisal of potential projects
¬ Preliminary technical design
¬ Financial, economic and commercial feasibility assessment
¬ Preliminary environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA)
¬ Operations and maintenance plan
¬ Preparation of the procurement plan and tender documents
AERTEC provided all its expertise in conducting cargo feasibility studies throughout the project, lending its experience with cargo to link the more electric aircraft (MEA) market with the international freight network. The ultimate goal of this project is to improve the infrastructure, operations and handling of perishable goods in the air cargo terminal at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman.