Royal Jordanian Airlines committed to promote Lanka

"We are committed to promoting Sri Lanka as a destination and carry a large number of European visitors as well as Jordanians, Israeli and other regional visitors to the island," the Vice President Marketing, Sales and Services of Royal Jordanian Airlines, Hussein Dabbas told a function in Colombo recently.

Dabbas said they were very committed to the Sri Lankan market and have never stopped operating regardless of what happened in the country.

He was in Sri Lanka to celebrate the landmark achievement of Royal Jordanian Airlines. The Royal Jordanian Airlines in Dubai was presented with an award for the best Airline Website in the Arab world.

Royal Jordanian was the first Arab and regional air carrier selected to join the global airline alliance and the first airline to join the elite oneworld alliance in the past five years.

Dabbas said months of preparation had enabled the airline to join the oneworld alliance that took place in Amman, Jordan on April 1. The other airlines such as American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Quantas, Air Iberis and Japan Airlines will join the alliance soon.

"We are a niche airline and our vision is to be the airline of choice connecting Jordan with the world. We have positioned ourselves with Amman as the hub for flights to Syria, Lebanon. Iraq, Israel and Palestine. We will maintain and develop services to these areas, bringing them to Amman and from there to the world. We represent Jordanian hospitality and culture.

We want to promote Jordan as a destination and gateway to the Middle East for both business and leisure travellers. Royal Jordanian revamped its fleet of 25 aircraft consisting of Airbus A340, A321, A320 and A310 two years ago. Short haul destinations are served by Bombardier Q400 aircraft and a fleet of new Embraer 195 aircraft are operated on short and medium haul routes in the Middle East, Arab Gulf, North Africa and Europe.

Privatisation of Royal Jordanian Airlines that began in 2000 has reached the final phase of completion with 74 percent being owned by the private sector and the balance by the government.