Royal Jordanian

Royal Jordanian الملكيَّة الأردنيَّة

ROYAL The Royal Jordanian Airlines Logo
IATA ICAO Callsign RJ RJA JORDANIAN
Founded	December 9, 1963 as Alia Airlines – Royal Jordanian Airlines
Hubs	Amman-Queen Alia International Airport
Focus cities	Aqaba-King Hussein
Frequent-flyer program	Royal Club
Alliance	Oneworld
Subsidiaries	Royal Jordanian Cargo *Royal Jordanian Ground Handling
Fleet size	24
Destinations	43
Company slogan	"The Way You Want to Fly"
Headquarters	Amman, Jordan

Royal Jordanian Airlines, formerly known as Alia Royal Jordanian Airlines, is the main airline of Jordan with its head office in the capital, Amman. The airline operates scheduled international services over four continents from its main base at Queen Alia International Airport, with over 500 flights per week and at least 110 per day. It joined the Oneworld airline alliance in 2007.

History

The airline was established on 9 December 1963 and started operations on 15 December 1963 after a royal decree by the late King Hussein. It was named Alia (or Aalya) after King Hussein's eldest child, Princess Alia bint Al Hussein of Jordan (born on 13 February 1956). It is a common misconception that the airline was named after the King's third wife, Queen Alia, whom King Hussein did not marry until 1972.

Alia (the Royal Jordanian Airline) started operations with two Handley Page Dart Heralds and a Douglas DC-7 aircraft, serving Kuwait City, Beirut and Cairo from Amman. In 1964, another DC-7 was added and service began to Jeddah. In 1965, Alia initiated service to Rome, its first destination in Europe. The progress made by the airline was threatened by an Israeli air raid during the 1967 Six-Day War when the DC-7 aircraft were destroyed. They were replaced by two Fokker F27 Friendship airliners.

In 1970, Alia got rid of the F27s and got Boeing 707 aircraft. Alia began flights to Frankfurt and Abu Dhabi. The 707s were delivered in 1971. In that year, flights began to Madrid, Copenhagen and Karachi. During the rest of the decade, Boeing 727s and Boeing 747s were added to the fleet. A catering department was established, and duty-free shops were opened at Amman airport. Services were added to destinations including Bahrain, Dubai, Muscat, Rabat, Geneva, Amsterdam, Baghdad, Bangkok, Vienna, Damascus, New York City, Houston, and Ras al-Khaimah.

In the 1980s, Tunis and Tripoli joined the route map, and Alia's IBM computer center was completed. Lockheed L-1011 Tristars, Airbus A310s and Airbus A320s joined the fleet. In 1986, Alia changed its name to Royal Jordanian. In November 1997, Royal Jordanian became a code-sharing partner with the US carrier Trans World Airlines and moved operations into the TWA Flight Center (Terminal 5) at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

The first of Royal Jordanian's Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft (267-seat, two-class configuration) entered service in September 2014, initially linking Amman with Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The 787 Dreamliner is Royal Jordanian's first Boeing aircraft since the 707s and 747s, and replaced the Airbus A340-200s which had nearly reached the end of their lives. The Dreamliners have also replaced the Airbus A330-200s as leases on those aircraft had expired. The Dreamliners are generally used on Royal Jordanian's Far East destinations and to London and North America.

Destinations

Codeshare agreements

Royal Jordanian codeshares with the following airlines:

• American Airlines
• British Airways
• Etihad Airways
• Gulf Air
• ITA Airways
• Malaysia Airlines
• Middle East Airlines
• Oman Air
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• TAROM
• Turkish Airlines
• Sky Express (Greece)

Fleet

Current fleet

As of September 2020, the Royal Jordanian fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Royal Jordanian Airbus A319-100

Royal Jordanian Airbus A321-200

Royal Jordanian Boeing 787-8

Royal Jordanian Airbus A321-200 in the retro livery

Royal Jordanian fleet

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Passengers			Notes
			C	Y	Total
Airbus A319-100	5	—	12	108	120	One painted in Oneworld livery (JY-AYP).
Airbus A320-200	6	—	12	138	150
Airbus A321-200	2	—	20	142	162	One painted in Alia Royal Jordanian retro livery (JY-AYV).
Boeing 787-8	7	—	24	246	270	One painted in Discover Petra livery (JY-BAH).
Embraer 175	2	—	12	60	72
Embraer 195	2	—	12	92	104
Royal Jordanian Cargo fleet
Airbus A310-300F	1	—	Cargo
Total	25	—

Former fleet

Royal Jordanian previously operated the following aircraft types:

Royal Jordanian retired fleet

Aircraft	Total	Introduced	Retired	Notes
Airbus A310-200	2	1999	2000
Airbus A310-300	11	1987	2012
Airbus A330-200	3	2010	2017
Airbus A340-200	4	2002	2014
Boeing 707-320C	14	1976	1996
Boeing 720B	2	1972	1983
Boeing 727-200	7	1974	1990	JY-ADU written off as Alia Royal Jordanian Airlines Flight 600
Boeing 747-200	2	1977	1989
Bombardier Q400	2	2005	2008
Douglas DC-6	1	1966	1972
Douglas DC-7	2	1963	1967
Fokker F27 Friendship	2	1967	1969
Fokker F28 Fellowship	1	2000	2007
Handley Page Dart Herald	2	1964	1965
Lockheed L-1011-500 Tristar	5	1981	1999
Sud Aviation Caravelle 10B	3	1965	1975
Vickers Viscount	5	1961	1967

Livery

From 1963 to 1986, the original livery of Royal Jordanian Airlines consisted of a white fuselage with both red and gold cheatlines.

In December 1986, the airline changed its name from Alia Royal Jordanian Airlines to simply Royal Jordanian Airlines, which coincided the arrival of Airbus A310 and Airbus A320 airliners. The new livery consisted of a charcoal grey fuselage with the same red and gold cheatlines, similar to the earlier version. The tail consists of a golden crown with a red tip on the charcoal grey coloured aircraft tail.

Special color schemes

Royal Jordanian's "Discover Petra" livery on Boeing 787 Dreamliner JY-BAH

Until 2009, Royal Jordanian had never had an aircraft painted in a special colour scheme. It announced at the 10th birthday celebrations in February 2009 of the airline alliance Oneworld that it would paint its new A319 due for delivery in late March in a special scheme, which would be based around the Oneworld name and logo. The aircraft, registration JY-AYP, has its fuselage painted white, with the tailfin and engines in normal Royal Jordanian colors. "A member of Oneworld" in prominent lettering is located at the front of the aircraft, with the usual title "Royal Jordanian" further back.

In October 2021, Royal Jordanian unveiled "Discover Petra" special livery on one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners, registered JY-BAH.

A month later, in November 2021, the airline revealed an Airbus A321, JY-AYV, in its retro "Alia" livery. The aircraft's first flight in the new paint scheme was to London Heathrow.

Gallery

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  An Airbus A310

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  An Airbus A319

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  An Airbus A330

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  A Boeing 747-200