Plans for a new airport on the Israeli-Jordanian border are under threat from political tensions within the new Israeli administration. Israel's infrastructure minister, Ariel Sharon, has objected to the $80 million facility planned for Eilat/Aqaba on the Red Sea coast.
Jordan reached agreement on the shared facility with the previous Israeli administration and viewed it as a means to boost tourist traffic to coastal resorts. But while Israel's new prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has assured King Hussein of Jordan that the final decision on the airport's status rests with him, relations between Sharon and Netanyahu have soured since the election, and the airport is now a possible victim.
But Raanan Giffin, a Sharon aide, insists doubts over the economic viability of the project are driving Sharon's stance. '[He] is asking if this airport can pay for itself and does it fit with Israel's aviation requirements for the next century,' says Giffin. 'We can only afford to build so many airports and another is planned for the Negev desert that will serve a far greater volume of traffic than the Eilat facility.'
Giffin says Sharon is not opposed to the airport plan in principle but is increasingly concerned that it is an expensive political gesture rather than a viable commercial proposition.
Meanwhile, Royal Jordanian, already concerned about revenue loss if the new airport is cancelled, has also lodged a complaint over the length of time it takes to secure clearance to land at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport. The carrier says it is taking 25 minutes to gain approval - twice the flight time from Amman.
Barry Chamish
Source: Airline Business
