Tag Archives: Royal Jordanian

As part of the airline’s strategic plans to expand its global network and welcome new visitors to Jordan, Royal Jordanian Airlines (RJ) has announced plans to introduce a new, direct route between Amman, Jordan and Stockholm, Sweden, beginning of May 29. The twice-weekly flights will connect passengers traveling between the two cities in just around four to five hours. The new Stockholm expansion is part of RJ’s new strategy to focus on driving tourism into Jordan and becoming the airline of choice for the Levant region. Passengers throughout Northern Europe will have direct route to the Jordanian capital from the capital of Sweden. Royal Jordanian Airlines Chief Commercial Officer, Karim Makhlouf, said, “It is my great pleasure to announce our new route to Stockholm, Sweden, which will make it easier than ever for tourists from Northern Europe and especially from Sweden to discover Jordan’s incredible wonders. Helping to promote and drive tourism to the Kingdom is a key focus of our new strategy—as is our emphasis on further developing Amman as the primary gateway to the Levant, by offering improved connectivity to our broader network. This newest route is yet another step in line with RJ’s ambitious five-year growth plan, which includes increasing our current fleet of 24 aircraft to more than 40 aircraft in the coming three to five years.” We want to welcome Royal Jordanian Airlines to Sweden and Swedavia Airports with the new route to Amman. The route will be an addition to the existing offer of routes available at Arlanda and it is evident that there is demand from travelers who wish to visit their friends and family in the Middle East, as well as from …

Sabre Corporation  and Royal Jordanian Airlines announced the renewal and expansion of a long-term distribution and technology agreement to continue to distribute the carrier’s content through Sabre’s global distribution system (GDS) and to utilize Sabre’s leading technology to achieve its strategic goals. Under the expanded agreement, Royal Jordanian will continue distributing its content to the large network of travel agents and corporations worldwide connected to Sabre’s GDS. Furthermore, the airline will be deploying a set of Sabre leading technology including Sabre’s Dynamic availability and Fares Manager and Fares Optimizer. The adoption of these products can help Royal Jordanian Airlines move toward a more flexible and modern environment, while supporting its growth. “We have ambitious plans to double our fleet and operations within the coming 3-5 years and to position Royal Jordanian as the carrier of choice connecting Jordan and Levant with the world,” said Karim Makhlouf, chief commercial officer, Royal Jordanian.  “Our extended technology partnership with Sabre will help us deploy the most robust and advanced technology to enable our growth plans, help us drive profitability and improve our efficiency while staying on top of today’s ever-changing airline landscape. We are excited to continue partnering with Sabre at this exciting time.” Dynamic Availability empowers airlines to gain better control of their pricing position by leveraging shopping data, automating fare changes, and enabling dynamic pricing capabilities to generate recommendations that help drive incremental revenue opportunities. Fares Manager and Fares Optimizer, on the other hand, brings integrated end-to-end automation and intelligence to airline pricing to increase analyst productivity and improve revenue opportunities. “As a key building block for personalized retailing, our dynamic pricing engine enables airlines to optimize availability at scale and …

A ceremony for the inaugural flight was held recently at Queen Alia International Airport. Present were Her Excellency The Canadian Ambassador Donica Pottie, RJ Vice Chairman/CEO Samer Majali and Airport International Group CEO Nicolas Claude. RJ Vice Chairman/CEO Samer Majali expressed his pleasure at the addition of Toronto to RJ’s route network, a move that comes in implementation of the airline’s five-year strategy, which includes, among others, growing the fleet and the route network in order to position Amman as the leading gateway for the Levant. Majali said that the new route is bound to attract more tourists to Jordan, facilitate travel for individuals, families, expatriates, Arab communities, students and businessmen, and boost trade between the Jordanian and the Canadian markets. “Furthermore, we are now focusing on bringing in more tourists to Jordan and help boost tourism through providing outstanding quality of service accompanied by our Jordanian hospitality when flying RJ from/to Toronto,” Majali commented. Airport International Group CEO, Nicolas Claude, said: “We are pleased to be inaugurating this new route connecting Amman and Toronto, which aligns with our strategy to expand Queen Alia International Airport routes network, while providing passengers greater travel options and serving new markets. I would like to thank our national carrier, Royal Jordanian, for supporting our commitment to opening new routes, and strengthening our standing as an award-winning gateway to the Levant and the world.”

Being the largest foreign carrier covering major cities of Iraq, RJ serves five Iraqi cities with multiple flights to/from Baghdad, Basra, Erbil, Najaf and Sulaymaniah, with over 30 frequencies per week. Additionally, RJ will offer complimentary hotel accommodation in Amman to transit passengers who are traveling from Iraq via Amman to other worldwide RJ destinations in Europe, USA, Canada, and the Arabian Gulf. Royal Jordanian’s Chief Commercial Officer Karim Makhlouf said: “We are committed to offer our passengers in Iraq the best connectivity with our global network via Amman to over 32 worldwide destinations. To cater for their needs, passengers will receive free visa and hotel accommodation for any connecting flight via Amman exceeding 8 hours.” In line with RJ’s expansion plans in Iraq, the airline and the National Bank of Iraq (NBI) sealed an agreement to introduce the first co-branded credit card in Iraq under RJ’s frequent flyer program “Royal Club”. This co-branded credit card allows its holders the opportunity to earn additional miles on each payment when using the bank’s credit card, whilst exchanging these miles against many rewards that the program offers ranging from flight tickets, upgrade on their travel booking class, extra baggage allowance and many other benefits. Karim Makhlouf said: “In line with its five-year plan, RJ will double its fleet and expand its route network; it is also placing Iraq as a key market in its growth plan. For this end, we are signing different partnerships with Iraqi institutions, among which is our partnership with the National Bank of Iraq. We are delighted to cooperate with NBI and introduce the first co-branded credit card in Iraq.” He added that this partnership will increase Iraqi …

Royal Jordanian is implementing the new measures required by the Jordanian Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission for inbound flights.Until further notice, all passengers traveling to Jordan are required to pay the PCR test fees prior to flight departure through airlines sales channels, except for children less than 5 years of age. In addition, passengers are to fill out a health declaration form and submit it to the check-in counter employee at the airport before boarding the plane. These measures will apply to travelers of all nationalities flying to Jordan. RJ passengers are urged to arrive at the airport 3 hours prior to their scheduled flights to avoid delays and allow more time for the implementation of the new procedures.  

Royal Jordanian and Royal Air Maroc concluded a free sale codeshare agreement whereby Royal Jordanian will market Royal Air Maroc flights, putting Royal Jordanian’s carrier code on these flights between Casablanca’s Mohammed V International Airport and Amman’s Queen Alia International Airport. Royal Jordanian does not operate flights to Morocco. The codeshare three weekly flights will be sold as of August 5, which will be also the first date of travel. The agreement with Royal Air Maroc is bound to enhance cooperation between the two flag carriers and improve passenger traffic by providing Royal Jordanian customers convenient options to fly to/from Amman; they can also plan their trips to reach further destinations on Royal Jordanian’s global route network. Royal Air Maroc operates its flights between Casablanca and Amman with a B737 aircraft; the plane departs from Mohammed V International Airport at 23:10 and arrives at QAIA at 6:50 the following day. Return flights depart from Amman at 7:50 and arrive in Casablanca at 12:05. Stefan Pichler, President/CEO, Royal Jordanian, said, “We are delighted to be working with Royal Air Maroc, a leading carrier in the Maghreb region. This agreement is a further step in the strategic and historical partnership between Jordan and Morocco, and an added value towards higher air traffic between our companies.” Abdelhamid Addou, CEO, Royal Air Maroc, said, “We are very pleased to start this codeshare with Royal Jordanian which will pave the way for our traffic and frequencies development in this market and will allow both carriers to access each other’s networks via the Special Prorate Agreement established for routes beyond Casablanca and Amman.”

Royal Jordanian (RJ) launched a new, state-of-the-art technology, offering passengers wireless in-flight entertainment (IFE) system on board the airline’s four Airbus A319 and six A320 aircraft. The new IFE service, which is provided by Bluebox Aviation Systems, is deployed on the Bluebox Wow portable wireless IFE system; this solution provides wireless content streamed to passengers’ personal devices on both Crown and Economy classes. To be able to view a wide range of films, TV programmes, games, airline info and audio, passengers need to download the ‘Sky Connect’ app on their personal devices from Apple Store or Google Play prior to their flight departure. This will enable them to stream IFE content provided by RJ for free on their personal devices (smartphones, laptops and tablets). Also RJ launched a campaign through all its communication channels to encourage customers to download the app and inform them about the requirements needed to enjoy using the new technology. Stefan Pichler, President & CEO, Royal Jordanian, said, “We’re continually enhancing our passenger services across all touch points, and Bluebox Wow enables us to do that by delivering wireless IFE to passengers’ own devices. It is both a cost-effective and a quick way of modernizing the IFE on part of our medium- and short-haul fleet, and with Bluebox’s commitment to continually invest in new capabilities, we know that as the technology advances, so will our ability to deliver even more to our passengers.” “We are delighted that Royal Jordanian has chosen Bluebox Wow,” said Kevin Clark, CEO of Bluebox. “Both the technological innovation and the deployment model of Bluebox Wow make Royal Jordanian and its fleet of A319s and A320s a natural fit for Bluebox Wow, a solution that …

Etihad Airways and Royal Jordanian have announced a new codeshare partnership to provide customers with greater access to key leisure and business destinations in North Africa, Europe, Canada, Asia and Australia. This is the first such partnership between the two airlines which offer multiple daily services between their respective hubs in Abu Dhabi and Amman. The partnership will see Etihad Airways place its ‘EY’ code on Royal Jordanian’s flights from Abu Dhabi via Amman’s Queen Alia International Airport to Larnaca and Berlin, while Algiers, Tunis, Vienna and Montreal will be added to the agreement soon. In turn, Royal Jordanian will initially place its ‘RJ’ code on Etihad Airways services from Amman to Abu Dhabi and vice versa, and then from the UAE capital to Brisbane and Seoul. Subject to government approval, RJ will also market Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi to Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calicut, Cochin, Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Manila, Beijing and Shanghai. Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said, “This partnership reinforces the deep cultural, tourism and trade connections between the UAE and Jordan, and opens up a new world of opportunities for our customers. Both the airlines share the common values of genuine Arabian hospitality and service, combined with the next-generation fleets, enviable reputations for efficiency and reliability, and a combined network spanning the globe.” Stefan Pichler, President and CEO, Royal Jordanian, said, “We are delighted to have Etihad Airways beside our codeshare partners who help us grow in different markets. This move is bound to expand our presence in Asia and Australia, which are key destinations for many RJ customers. This commercial partnership offers convenient transiting in Amman and Abu Dhabi to their final …

Royal Air Maroc will join oneworld to be the third Arab airline member, besides Royal Jordanian and Qatar Airways by mid 2020. Its regional subsidiary Royal Air Maroc Express will join as a oneworld affiliate member at the same time. Its election as a oneworld member was announced as the chief executives of the alliance’s 13 current member airlines gathered in New York for their year-end Governing Board meeting. From then, the recruits will offer the full range of oneworld customer services and benefits, with the one million plus members of Royal Air Maroc’s Safar Flyer loyalty programme able to earn and redeem rewards on all oneworld member airlines, and with its top tier members able to use the alliance’s more than 650 airport lounges worldwide. While Comair has been a oneworld affiliate member since the alliance launched in February 1999, Royal Air Maroc will be oneworld’s first full member from Africa – the only continent, apart from Antarctica – where the alliance has, until now, had no full member. It will also be the alliance’s first new full member airline signed since 2012.  Royal Air Maroc is today the largest unaligned carrier in Africa – with a transformational strategy well underway to develop it quickly into a truly global airline and the continent’s leader in terms of both size and quality.  It carried 7.3 million passengers last year on a fleet of 55 aircraft, with a network that currently connects its Casablanca base with 94 destinations in 49 countries across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North and South America, including oneworld hubs Doha, London Heathrow, Madrid, Moscow Domodedovo, New York JFK and Sao Paulo.

Royal Jordanian (RJ) has decided to stop Royal Wings operations on November 30, 2018. The move was taken as a result of the high operating costs and the subsequent losses incurred by Royal Wings over the past years. The task of promoting and selling the charter flights that used to be carried out by Royal Wings will now fall on Royal Jordanian’s commercial department. Negotiations are going on at this stage between RJ and two parties interested in buying Royal Wings; the process may take some time. As for the employees working at Royal Wings, 12 of them, who had been seconded from Royal Jordanian to Royal Wings, will return to work for RJ. The other 95 Royal Wings employees were offered several flexible options for their future benefit. After interviewing a number of them, 18 have been accepted to work for RJ so far, as they met the job requirements, while the process of interviewing is still ongoing to give the opportunity to the remaining staff members to undergo RJ exams and interviews. Those who don’t pass the exams and interviews are offered the option of voluntary release from service. The voluntary release option is also available to all Royal Wings employees.