AMMAN —
Minister of Transport Wajih Azaizeh said Wednesday that Jordan’s stance on
Israel’s Ramon Airport—by submitting an official objection to its operation
with the International Aviation Organization (ICAO) in 2019—resulted in the
suspension of international flights operating from that airport. It was not
clear how his statement ties into the fact that Israel had started last week
operating charter flights to and from the airport and several regional
destinations. The flights serve
West Bank Palestinians and have been criticized
by the Palestinian Authority and Jordanian officials.
اضافة اعلان
There was no official reaction from Israeli
authorities to Azaizeh’s statement.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate
Affairs stressed, in previous statements, that the establishment of the airport
would lead to a violation of Jordanian airspace, as well as a violation of
international law, especially Article 1 of the Chicago Convention on
International Civil Aviation of 1944, and the standards of the ICAO.
Minister of Interior
Mazen Al-Faraya said Wednesday
that the government began a few days ago to make improvements to the process of
crossing the King Hussein Bridge by increasing the number of staff working at
the border crossing and facilitating some administrative procedures.
Infrastructure upgrades
Azaizeh and Faraya held a
meeting with Palestinian Minister of Transport and Communications
Assem Salem
on Wednesday to discuss a number of measures related to easing travel through
the King Hussein Bridge especially procedures for luggage handling and
processing travelers.
The government on Wednesday said it was accelerating
the floating of a tender valued at JD150 million to upgrade infrastructure at
the King Hussein Bridge border crossing, according to the Jordan News Agency,
Petra.
Azaizeh said, following his meeting with his
Palestinian counterpart and Interior Minister Faraya, that Jordan is committed
to streamlining transport procedures between the border crossing and
Queen Alia International Airport.
“The new Israeli airport is of no importance to the
Palestinians, government or people. Rather, their Jordanian and Arab (relation)
is the only thing that matters,” Salem was quoted by Petra as saying.
The head of the Tourist Guides Association, Hani
Masadeh, told
Jordan News that the announcement of the JD150 million
tender was a “late awakening”.
He added that the suspension of flights from Ramon
would not have a direct effect on tourism in Jordan. There is much work to be
done by the Jordan Tourism Board, the Ministry of Tourism, and tourist
operators, he added, stressing the need to develop infrastructure and services
for tourist facilities and increase the capacity of hotels in order to compete.
Both the Jordan Tourism Board and
Ministry of Tourism declined to comment, citing the “political” nature of the transport
minister’s statement.
Meanwhile, MP Yenal Fraihat asked Prime Minister
Bisher Al-Khasawneh, through the Lower House Permanent Secretariat, for details
regarding Ramon Airport and if the government had recently contacted the
Israeli authorities, and if it can provide him with any related official documents.
He also asked why the government has failed to file
a complaint with international bodies to stop the construction of Ramon
Airport, and whether the establishment of the airport violates the
Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty.
He told
Jordan News that “I wanted to say that there
are Israeli violations and that the Jordanian government had failed to deal
with the Ramon issue and did not respond by building the Jordan Valley Airport
as was intended.”
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