Tag Archives: Royal Jordanian Airlines

Some airlines including the Lufthansa Group, QANTAS and Royal Jordanian are temporarily avoiding Iraqi airspace

Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa) (Frankfurt) is not flying over Iraq through today. The Group issued this statement:

After renewed consultation, the Lufthansa Group has decided effective immediately not to fly over Iraq until and including Sunday. This includes flights to Erbil in northern Iraq for this time period. Normally, Lufthansa flies twice weekly to Erbil and Austrian Airlines operates a daily flight. The company is also in regular and close contact with the responsible security authorities in Iraq regarding flight safety. Based on our own evaluations there is currently no danger in flying over Iraq or for Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines flights to the north Iraq city of Erbil. Nevertheless and as a precautionary measure the Lufthansa Group has decided to avoid Iraqi air space effective immediately and including Sunday. The reason for this is that the background of the decision made by some aviation authorities is not clear yet and needs a comprehensive evaluation. With this step the company carries the growing uncertainty of customers and crew members that results from the different evaluations of aviation officials. Lufthansa regrets the resulting inconvenience for its customers. However, the safety and security of its passengers is the highest priority of the company. The changed flight routes apply to all group airlines. In addition to Lufthansa, this includes Lufthansa Cargo, Austrian Airlines and Swiss. By avoiding Iraqi air space flight times will not significantly increase.

Meanwhile QANTAS Airways issued this statement about Iraqi airspace:

Qantas has closely monitored the issue of flight paths over conflict zones, particularly in light of the MH 17 tragedy, with safety our first priority.

We have no new information that alters our safety assessment of flying over Iraq, especially given the altitudes we maintain over this region.

However, given the various restrictions imposed by different governments in the past 24 hours, including by the United States’ FAA, QANTAS temporarily rerouted its flights within the Middle East to avoid Iraqi airspace. This change will apply until further information becomes available.

The flight path adjustment applies to services between Dubai and London, and is not expected to significantly increase flight times on this route.

We will continue to assess this situation and make any further amends we think are prudent.

In addition, Royal Jordanian suspended all flights to Baghdad for at least 24 hours on security grounds yesterday according to Reuters.

Lufthansa:

Royal Jordanian to assign the new Boeing 787s to the North American routes

Royal Jordanian Airlines (Amman) according to Airline Route, intends to operate its new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners on the Amman-Chicago (O’Hare) (six weekly flights starting on October 1), Amman-Montreal (Trudeau)-Detroit (twice-weekly starting October 2) and Amman-New York (JFK) (four weekly flights starting on October 2) routes. The new type will replace the Airbus A330s and A340s on the North American routes.

Royal Jordanian has 11 787-8s on order including four on lease.

Royal Jordanian:

Royal Jordanian celebrates 50 years of flying, will introduce the Boeing 787 on July 1, 2014

Royal Jordanian Airlines (Amman) this month celebrated its 50th Anniversary. The flag carrier launched scheduled passenger flights on December 15, 1963 as Alia-The Royal Jordanian Airline (Air Jordan) between Amman and Beirut. The airline adopted the current name on December 15, 1986.

Majesty King Abdullah II joined the airline on December 22 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee according to the airline. RJ has introduced a new 50th emblem which is likely to appear on its aircraft The airline is also issuing 50 days of daily free tickets.

The airline issued this statement and photo:

His Majesty King Abdullah II joined Royal Jordanian on Sunday, December 22, 2013, in a celebration to mark the national carrier’s 50^thanniversary.

During a visit to RJ’s new premises, the King toured a photo exhibition depicting the flag carrier’s development since its launch in 1963 and also viewed a model of a modern aircraft and its functions from take-off to landing.

The King and the attendees also watched a film about the development of RJ, which launched its maiden flight to Beirut on December 15, which was later followed by other destinations across various continents.

His Majesty congratulated the RJ staff on the airline’s golden jubilee, expressing his pride in and appreciation for their relentless efforts to upgrade “this national edifice” over five decades.

“Through its glitter, RJ has become a real ambassador of the country and an embodiment of its bright image as it circled the world in its name,” the King wrote in the visitors’ book, urging the airline to pursue its efforts to boost its competitiveness in the region and the world.

During the ceremony, attended by His Royal Highness Prince Faisal Ibn Al Hussein, Prime Minister Abdullah Nsour and senior officials, King Abdullah honoured a number of staff members and ex-employees for their contributions to RJ. He also received a memento, a Boeing 787 yoke, from the Chairman of the Board of Directors Nasser Lozi.

Lozi said in remarks during the ceremony that RJ’s golden jubilee marks the carrier’s history and the ability of its staff from multiple generations to build an airline whose roots run deep at home and which has spread its branches across the world.

He said the company had made remarkable growth and expanded through various stages of the Kingdom’s development and sought to promote the national values of a sense of belonging, maintaining traditions and hospitality.

Lozi said human resources are the backbone of RJ’s development and modernisation as it relied on the expertise, loyalty and keenness of its staff to put the airline among the world’s prestigious airlines

Royal Jordanian President/CEO Amer Hadidi said: “The 50 past years of RJ lifetime is a source of pride for all of us. RJ is dream that came true with the persistent efforts of loyal Jordanians that could manage to build this edifice with very limited potentials.”

He added that the airline has promising future plans including growing its fleet and increasing the destinations on its route network, adding that RJ will be receiving the first 5 Boeing 787 aircraft in the second half of 2014, helping RJ to reach new heights and to fly to more cities around the world.

Hadidi said the airline intends to invest in the aviation industry in the field of maintenance and ground handling, and to expand in this area by providing these services in the regional markets. He pointed that RJ has the required expertise and capabilities qualifying it to contribute to the development of aviation in the Arab world, particularly the countries that witnessed the transformation of the Arab Spring and are in need of such services.”

In other news, Royal Jordanian is planning to introduce its first new 267-seat Boeing 787-8 initially on the Amman-Jeddah route on July 1, 2014 followed by the twice-weekly Amman-Lagos-Accra route the next day according to Airline Route. Twice-weekly Amman-Montreal (Trudeau) will be introduced on July 3 followed by weekly Amman-Abu Dhabi service on July 5.

Top Copyright Photo: Rolf Wallner/AirlinersGallery.com. Royal Jordanian Airlines’ Airbus A330-223 JY-AIF (msn 979) approaches the runway at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Royal Jordanian:

Alia:

Video:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Christian Volpati/AirlinersGallery.com. Alia’s Lockheed L-1011-385-3 TriStar 500 JY-AGB (msn 1219) taxies at Paris (Orly) in the ornate 1981 livery.

Royal Jordanian seeks a merger with a larger carrier

Royal Jordanian Airlines (Amman) believes a takeover by a larger carrier is inevitable and is seeking a merger partner according to this report by Bloomberg.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Royal Jordanian Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Royal Jordanian to continue flying to Munich

Royal Jordanian Airlines (Amman) has reversed its course concerning dropping Munich on April 19. The airline is now stating it will continue serving MUC.

On February 7, 2012, RJ announced its decision to stop operating to five of its destinations; Al Ain, Brussels and Munich as well as two other destinations in the Gulf not yet announced.

This decision was part of the airline’s intensive actions to reduce the operating costs raised by soaring fuel prices and to offset the decline in tourism as a result of the political situation in the region

Hussein Dabbas, the RJ president, said that the decision to keep Munich on the route network is due to restudying the pattern of RJ’s operation to Frankfurt and Munich as well as the assistance provided by Munich Airport.

Mr. Dabbas added that the operation would consist of two Munich frequencies. The service includes running one weekly direct flight from Amman to Munich on Saturdays and another combined with the service from Amman to Frankfurt on Wednesdays. RJ operates another five weekly direct flights to Frankfurt.

Royal Jordanian Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Royal Jordanian Airlines suspends service to five cities

Royal Jordanian Airlines Airbus A319-132 JY-AYN (msn 3803) ZRH (Rolf Wallner), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Royal Jordanian Airlines (Amman) will suspend service to five cities due to higher fuel costs and the Arab Spring which has decreased tourism to the region. The carrier will also consider reducing its fleet.

The flag carrier issued the following statement:

“Royal Jordanian’s Board of Directors took the decision to suspend operations to five destinations on its route network in order to reduce the operating costs brought up by the soaring fuel prices and to offset the decline in tourism to the region, the outcome of the Arab spring and the political unrest.

RJ President/CEO Hussein Dabbas said the company suspends operations to Brussels, Munich and Alain starting with March and April respectively, and to two other destinations in the Gulf area, to be announced at a later time. The decision was based on the assessment of the performance and economic feasibility of these stations.

Dabbas added that in order to reduce costs, the company has also decided to reduce the number of frequencies to destinations like Rome, Vienna, Zurich, Geneva, Amsterdam, Colombo and Khartoum.

The company will cancel more flights during this year, to be decided by the amount of bookings to certain destinations, and will keep tight control on all aspects of capital expenditure. It stopped employing new personnel in 2012, focusing on increasing staff productivity. These measures, stressed Dabbas, will not affect in any way the level of services provided to passengers.

The CEO said that the airline will also reconsider its fleet size, in light of the above measures, and pointed out that the financial results of the airline were adversely affected in 2011 due to the constant increase in fuel prices throughout; the barrel reached JD115, which led to an increase in the fuel bill, and reached JD293 million last year, compared to JD203 million in 2010, leading to about 20% increase in the overall operational cost of the company.

The Arab spring and the political unrest that swept the Arab region last year is having a significant impact on Royal Jordanian, and the aviation industry in the region in general, forcing the airline to close some of its stations, such as Tripoli and Benghazi, for several months. At the same time, other stations experienced a noticeable decline in traffic, such as Tunis, Damascus, Aleppo, Sana’a, Aden, Bahrain, Cairo, Alexandria and Sharm El Sheikh, translating in the loss of hundreds of thousands of passengers.

A significant drop of tourists, mainly from Europe, could be noticed at all destinations, which forced the airline to cancel more than 1,300 flights last year and to take the decision to cancel over 460 flights in the first three months of this year.

Dabbas said that the decision to suspend flights was taken to help efforts to overcome this difficult stage. The company, the president added, conducted extensive studies aimed at finding the best possible solutions and techniques to mitigate the impact of the increase in fuel prices and the instability in the Arab region, as well as the impact of the economic crisis experienced the world over and particularly in the euro zone. It also based its decisions on the forecast that tourism to Jordan and the Middle East will decline due to all these challenges, as expected in the first quarter of 2012.

The president said that reducing the airline’s operations is a normal and necessary procedure under these difficult circumstances, and that the company is determined to overcome this adverse phase by cutting costs and thus increasing revenues. He also said that many international airlines took similar decisions as a result of the challenges facing the aviation industry. Some were forced to stop operations completely, while others had to give up one third of their destinations and fleet.

Dabbas said that the increase in number of passengers and revenues in previous years ranged between 15% and 20%. However, despite all the difficulties, the company was able to achieve positive operational results during 2011, as it increased the number of passengers by 6.5%, the operational revenues by 6%, the flying hours and departures by 3%, the seat factor reached 70%. He pointed out that the increase of the operational cost by 20% against an increase of only 6% in its revenues has led to losses in 2011.

Dabbas attributed this improvement, however modest, in the airline’s performance to the employees and their understanding of the challenges faced by the company, their great efforts exerted in an attempt to mitigate the effects of these challenges, as well as to the various initiatives launched by the airline in order to reduce cost and increase revenues.”

Royal Jordanian Photo Gallery: CLICK HERE

Royal Jordanian Airlines to launch a new route to Lagos and Accra on March 31, will retire the passenger Airbus A310

Royal Jordanian Airlines Airbus A330-223 JY-AIE (msn 970) HAM (Gerd Beilfuss) (first Airbus A330), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Royal Jordanian Airlines (Amman) will launch a new twice-weekly route to Lagos and Accra on March 31 with Airbus A330s per Airline Route.

The company will also retire the last passenger Airbus A310 in late March.

Royal Jordanian Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Royal Jordanian Airlines to fly to Nairobi

Royal Jordanian Airlines Airbus A319-132 JY-AYN (msn 3803) ZRH (Rolf Wallner), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Royal Jordanian Airlines (Amman) will launch a new route from Amman to Nairobi, Kenya on December 16. The new route will be operated four times a week with Airbus A319s according to Airline Route.

Royal Jordanian Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Royal Jordanian Airlines to add Lagos, planning to expand into Africa

Royal Jordanian Airlines Airbus A330-223 JY-AIE (msn 970) HAM (Gerd Beilfuss) (first Airbus A330), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Royal Jordanian Airlines (Amman) is planning to add Lagos, Nigeria and the Amman-Lagos route at the end of November. The new route with be flown with Airbus A330s according to this article by AMEinfo.com.

The company is also studying the feasibility of also adding Accra, Addis Ababa and Nairobi with Airbus A320s.

Read the article: CLICK HERE

Royal Jordanian Slide Show: CLICK HERE