Royal Jordanian Airlines (RJ) has positioned itself as the de-facto airline for the Levant region after coming under pressure from regional giants such as Emirates and Qatar Airways, said Samer Majali, CEO of the Amman-based flag carrier.
Speaking at the Routes World 2023 event in Istanbul, Majali said the airline faced stiff competition from “some of the best carriers in the world” in the Gulf, as well as Turkish Airlines.
“We are sandwiched in the middle,” he said. “We have had to adapt, we have switched strategies, and now we are focused on being the Levant-to-the-globe connector.
“We do all secondary-to-secondary destinations, all primary and secondary destinations within the region, and we connect this network to Europe, the US, Canada.”
Majali described this as “three layers of connectability” which allowed RJ to “find our niche market and compete”.
The Levant refers to a geographic region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Royal Jordanian expansion
In March, RJ announced its latest expansion to Stockholm – a route that gives access to northern Europe for passengers not only originating from its hub at Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan but also surrounding markets such as Iraq.
In line with the airline’s strategic plan to modernise its narrow-body fleet, RJ has announced the lease of up to 40 new narrow-body aircraft, including a fleet of brand-new Airbus A320neos and E195-E2 Embraer commercial jets.
The latter was agreed in May, when Embraer and commercial aviation lessor Azorra announced a new eight aircraft deal with RJ that will see the introduction of both the E190-E2 and E195-E2 to the airline’s fleet. Aircraft deliveries are expected to begin in Q4 2023.
The agreement covers eight commercial aircraft, four E190-E2 and four E195-E2, with a list price value of $635m. Six aircraft, four E190-E2 and two E195-E2 come from Azorra’s existing backlog with Embraer. Two further E195-E2s are firm orders with Embraer directly from the airline, which were added to Embraer’s Q4 2022 backlog as ‘undisclosed’.
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