Amman Civil Airport

Amman Civil Airport (), commonly known as Marka International Airport (previously Amman Civil Airport), is located in Marka district, Greater Amman Municipality, Jordan, some northeast of Amman's city centre.

Amman Civil Airport served as Amman's main airport from 1950 until 1983, when Queen Alia International Airport replaced it. Scheduled commercial passenger flights are set to resume in 2026 , and it serves as Amman's main airport for general aviation. It also is an aviation education and training hub and hosts air freight operations. It serves as the home base for Arab Wings and Jordan International Air Cargo, and the Jordan Airports Company is headquartered at the airport.

History

The airport was founded in 1950 by the British as a joint military-civilian airport. It served as Jordan's main civilian airport until Queen Alia International Airport opened in 1983. In its military capacity, it served as base for the Royal Air Force (RAF).

It first hosted RAF units in 1920.

RAF squadron based here included:

• No. 6 Squadron RAF initially between 10 January and 7 June 1954 with the de Havilland Vampire FB.9 and de Havilland Venom FB.1 and again between 26 September and 10 October 1955 with the Venom FB.4
• No. 14 Squadron RAF initially between February 1920 and June 1924 as a detachment with the Bristol F.2B Fighter then as a squadron between 15 February 1926 and 24 August 1939 with the de Havilland DH.9A, Fairey IIIF, Fairey Gordon, Vickers Vincent and Vickers Wellesley
• No. 32 Squadron RAF between 29 October 1956 and 11 January 1957 with the de Havilland Venom FB.1, moving to RAF Mafraq
• No. 33 Squadron RAF between 13 July and 10 August 1936 with the Hawker Hart
• No. 45 Squadron RAF detachment between November 1927 and August 1929 with the Fairey IIIF
• No. 73 Squadron RAF between 12 October and 5 November 1955 with the Venom FB.1
• No. 208 Squadron RAF detachment between March 1958 and March 1959 with the Hawker Hunter F.6
• No. 249 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF between 8 June 1954 and 26 September 1955 with the Vampire FB.9, Venom FB.1 & FB.4
• No. 450 Squadron RAAF between 29 June and 11 July 1941 with the Hawker Hurricane I
• No. 1909 Flight detachment from No. 651 Squadron RAF between August 1948 and November 1951 with the Auster AOP.6

In 2009, Jordan Airports Company officially assumed managerial and operational responsibility for Amman Civil Airport. (The company also is entrusted with the development of 8,000 dunums (8 km²; 3.1 sqmi) around Queen Alia International Airport.) In coordination with specialised international consultants, the company prepared a comprehensive master plan for Amman Civil Airport, which includes several capital projects, and began the implementation of the first phase of the master plan to develop the facilities at the airport. As of 2012, several infrastructure and air side projects to modernise the airport had begun.

Airlines and destinations

Accidents and incidents

• On 30 June 1973, Aeroflot Flight 512, a Tupolev Tu-134A, registration CCCP-65668, overran the runway on takeoff from the airport, traveled down the slope of a ravine, struck trees and a one-story concrete building beyond the runway threshold, and broke into three parts, killing two crew members and seven people in the building. The other five crew members and all 78 passengers survived. Investigators determined that the crash occurred because the captain mistakenly believed that one engine had failed and the airliner's speed was dropping — in fact, both engines were working properly — and decided to abort the takeoff at a speed of .

References

External links

• Official website