Kingdom protests Israel airport at UN agency

AMMAN — Jordan has filed a motion with an international agency against Israeli plans to build an airport in a border area, on grounds that the facility jeopardises the Kingdom’s airspace safety, a senior official said.

Captain Gabriel Sivzattian, chief commissioner of the Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission (CARC), said on Sunday that the Transport Ministry, represented by CARC, addressed the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to explain the Jordanian position in rejecting the establishment of the planned Timna Israeli Airport to the north of Aqaba, 360km south Amman. 

The setting up of the Timna airport near the King Hussein International Airport is in violation of the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation and breaches public safety requirements that should be observed in the event of designing plans for a new airport, the officials told ICAO.

Jordan has said that the sovereignty of its skies will be violated  when aircraft approach the proposed airport for landing, Sivzattian pointed out.

The Kingdom is also concerned about jeopardising the safety of planes at the King Hussein International Airport, which is also used by three aviation academies for pilot training, he added.  

In response, ICAO, which is a UN agency, contacted the Israeli side to discuss the question of the Timna airport, Sivzattian said, pointing out that the Jordanian side has the choice to agree with the ICAO on providing expert technicians to study the Jordanian objection and to look into Timna’s impact on air traffic safety.

Despite the Jordanian objection, Israel is still building the airport, prompting the country to seek international intervention, Sivzattian noted.