The number of passengers arriving at the Queen Alia International airport (QAIA) in Jordan’s capital, Amman, rose to 749,314 in July, an increase of 29.6 per cent compared with the same period in 2014.

The volume of cargo handled by the airport rose at a lower rate of 6 per cent over the same period last year, reaching 7,833 tonnes.

Amman-based news agency Petra quoted Kjeld Binger, CEO of Airport International Group (AIG), which operates QAIA, attributing the growth to the increase in flight activity mainly from across the Gulf, Egyptian, Turkish and Iraqi markets, as well as to the expansion of QAIA’s network with the addition of new airlines.

One of these new airlines is UAE low-cost carrier Air Arabia, which began flying from its QAIA hub in March this year.

The increase in passenger arrivals in July and the expected growth momentum due to the upcoming hajj and Eid al-Adha holidays could help Jordan recover lost ground during the first half of the year, when passenger movement at QAIA decreased by 8.1 per cent compared with the same period in 2014.

At $4.36bn, the country’s tourism receipts in 2014 account for 12 per cent of its nominal GDP, estimated by the Washington-based IMF at $35.8bn.