Implementation of Ajloun cable car project begins at estimated JD10m

AMMAN — The Jordan Free and Development Zones Group (JFDZG) and Austrian company Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group on Saturday signed an implementation agreement to kick off the execution of the cable car project in Ajloun’s Suwwan Development Zone at an estimated cost of JD10 million.

As per the agreement, the implementation will be carried out over 18 months, JFDZG Chairman Khalaf Hmeisat said in a statement carried by the Jordan News, Petra.

Total actual costs, around JD10 million, cover designing, installing and operating the cable car as well as preparing the facilities on site by local designers and constructors, he said.

Ajloun’s cable car project aims at boosting tourism in the northern region and provides some 50 jobs upon launch. However, the indirect and parallel business to be generated through investment opportunities in the development zone is expected to create some 700 jobs, Hmeisat added.

Those include hotels, conference centres, environmental chalets, shops, tourist restaurants and other operations and businesses, according to the statement.

The chairman noted that the cable car line would extend through 2.85km, over 142 dunums, offering an “exclusive” view of the Ajloun Castle.

Forty cars will be fitted to the line, with a maximum of eight passengers each, he explained.

Doppelmayr/Garaventa group, a leading company in ropeway engineering, has built more than 15,000 installations for customers in 96 nations, according to their website.