Royal Jordanian Airlines

moving forward with confidence

We remain committed to the Sri Lanka market and plan on increasing operations by the end of this year...."

In Colombo last week to celebrate Royal Jordanian Airlines joining the oneworld alliance was Hussein Dabbas, Vice President Marketing, Sales and Services at Royal Jordanian Airlines.

A dinner reception was held at the Cat's Eye, Ceylon Continental, to celebrate this landmark achievement. Speaking on this occasion Hussein Dabbas said 15 months of preparation had preceded the airline's joining the oneworld alliance which took place on 1st April this year in Amman, Jordan.

Royal Jordanian is the first Arab and regional air carrier selected to join any global airline alliance and the first

 airline to join the elite oneworld alliance in the past 5 years. Other member airlines include American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Qantas Iberia with Japan Airlines to join soon.

"80% of the world's traffic is carried by alliances and while oneworld is not the biggest, it is the most profitable," said Hussein Dabbas adding: "This is an alliance that does not force members to amalgamate or blend in with the other carriers but allows the member airlines to maintain their identity which has resulted in extensive awareness created about Royal Jordanian."

Describing a major change in strategy embarked on during the past three years Hussein Dabbas said "We are a niche airline and our Vision is to be the airline of choice connecting Jordan and the Levant with the world. We have positioned ourselves with Amman as the hub for the Levant which consists of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel and Palestine. We will maintain and develop our services to these areas, bringing them to the hub Amman and from there taking them all over the world."

"Our aim is to ensure that we represent the best of Jordanian hospitality and culture, promote Jordan as a destination and gateway to the Middle East for both business and leisure travellers," he said.

He explains that this has resulted in Royal Jordanian embarking on a major revamping of their fleet two years ago. "Among other facilities we now have seatback TV with a wide selection of movies and video on demand.

And while the new Crown Class takes our passengers to another level of comfort with plush grey leather seat beds and world class cuisine, the new economy class is the best in the region - instead of adding seats we have removed some so there is a lot more legroom and facilities are excellent.

Explaining that Royal Jordanian covers a network of 52 destinations in four continents, Hussein Dabbas said: "Our fleet of more than 25 aircraft include Airbus A340s, A321s, A320s and A310s.

Short haul destinations are served by Bombardier Q400 aircraft and a fleet of new Embraer 195 aircraft which are operated on short and medium-haul routes in the Middle East, the Arab Gulf, North Africa and Europe.

Fleet expansion has seen Royal Jordanian order twelve Boeing 787 aircraft, the first of which is scheduled to arrive in December 2010. The Boeing aircraft will be used for services to North America and the Far East and will replace the Airbus 310s on medium to short haul routes.

Another major change happening with Royal Jordanian Airlines is its privatisation process which began in 2000. "It slowed down but is now in the final phases of completion with 74% being owned by the private sector and 26% by the Government," said Hussein Dabbas. This too is in the process of change, moving towards the airline being 100% owned by the private sector.

Stressing on the airline's focus on high quality service Hussein Dabbas said: "At Royal Jordanian we pride ourselves on offering the best service standards to our passengers. This is proved by the number of world class awards won by us in the recent past.

They include the Phoenix award won at the 2007 ATW Airline Industry Achievement Awards in Washington and the Asia Pacific Award for the Airline Turnaround of the Year 2006 at a ceremony held by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) in Singapore."

The most recent award was presented to Royal Jordanian Airlines in Dubai last week for the "Best Airline Website in the Arab World."

Confirming that currently 80% of travel is through e-ticketing Hussein Dabbas said "Royal Jordanian is moving to being 100% e-ticketing by the end of this year." Royal Jordanian has been operating to Sri Lanka since 1992 - for over 15 years - Hussein Dabbas said "We are very committed to the Sri Lanka market and in fact we have never stopped operating regardless of what might have happened here.

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 this island.

Royal Jordanian Airlines currently operates non-stop between Amman and Colombo on Thursdays and Saturdays "and we are planning to increase operations with a third frequency to be added on by the end of this year," said Hussein Dabbas.