Royal Jordanian celebrates 54th anniversary

RJ has been receiving Hashemite support since its establishment. His Majesty King Hussein's constant backing played a key role in the progress witnessed by the airline and helped it boost its competitiveness at regional and international levels.

His Majesty King Abdullah II continues to support Royal Jordanian, given the leading national role that the flag carrier plays in connecting Jordan to the world and its strategic significance in serving the country.

On the occasion, RJ President/CEO Stefan Pichler expressed the airline’s appreciation for the care the Kingdom and the Jordanian government give RJ, and for their keenness to maintain RJ as Jordan's carrier that can contribute to the national economy, is a major employer of workforce, and that has been lending its support to the tourist and culture sectors, and to society at large for 54 years now.

He said: “The Royal Crown is in our brand, a very strong and powerful symbol to take our company forward and achieve the turnaround. It makes us all believe in Royal Jordanian and work together as a team to make it happen.”

RJ has all the ingredients needed to be successful and move to a brighter future, judging from the financial results recorded by the company in the second half of 2017, which show a successful third quarter and profitable three quarters in 2017, said Pichler.

He added that RJ will keep improving its services, facilitate travel procedures and develop employees’ skills by training them according to the best customer-service standards, in addition to relying on technology in all fields, in line with international airlines.

Pichler said that the strategic objective of Royal Jordanian is to position itself as the No. 1 carrier in the Levant. This will be done by strengthening the three main pillars of the 5-year turnaround plan: sustainable profitability that attracts the capital market and targets increasing operating margins in the coming five years; being a consumer champion by thinking of customers first; being the employer of choice, which attracts and retains talented and skilled workforce and rewards performance.

The airline will keep revisiting its route network to enhance connectivity through RJ’s hub in Amman and will simplify the fleet and thus make future growth easier.

Pichler added that RJ will keep offering super-low fares to retain loyal customers and gain new ones; passengers will also see improved services and a seamless travel experience.

In 1963, the company had 250 employees, operated two aircraft -- a Handley Page Dart Herald and a DC7 -- and was flying to three destinations: Beirut, Kuwait and Cairo.

Now its fleet counts 26 modern aircraft that fly to 44 cities spread over four continents. Ten destinations are still suspended for security reasons: Damascus, Aleppo, Sanaa, Aden, Tripoli, Benghazi, Misrata, Mosul, Suleimaniyah and Erbil.

The next five years will see the launch of four new stations and more aircraft, which will bring the total number of 30 modern airliners

The number of passengers increased from 87,000 in 1964 to more than 3 million by the end of this year; the number of yearly flights grew from 4,000 to more than 35,000 over the period. Revenues also went up from JD1 million in 1964 to some JD618 million expected at the end of this year.   

Honouring employees 

Royal Jordanian held a ceremony on the occasion of its 54th anniversary, honouring employees who have been in the service of the airline for 5 to 40 years.

Pichler presented certificates of appreciation to the honoured employees, thanking, on the occasion, the RJ family members who work in Jordan and the outstations, pointing to their distinction in various fields in the aviation industry, which makes Royal Jordanian proud of its highly skilled staff at a global level.

RJ staff also expressed pride in serving the national carrier of Jordan and promised to exert all the efforts needed to make the turnaround plan successful and thus raise the airline’s name high and maintain its distinguished international and regional reputation as an important contributor to the kingdom’s economy and local community, and an employer of choice, by virtue of it being the pillar of air transportation in Jordan that aims at becoming the number one choice for travellers in the Levant.