RJ celebrates its 45th anniversary tomorrow

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For the last four decades, this leading company has continuously progressed, living up to its role as the country's only flag carrier, maintaining its identity, history and culture. RJ still performs this role, under the invaluable guidance and directives of His Majesty King Abdullah II, who spares no effort in lending his support to the airline. Thus, RJ continues its strides by renewing its fleet and expanding its route network and operations.

Comparing the results of the first year of its establishment and those estimated for 2008, it can be seen that the number of passengers increased from 87,000 in 1964 to an estimated 2.7 million at the end of this year. The number of flights grew to reach 34,254 this year, in comparison to 4,193 in 1964. Moreover, the number of aircraft rose from four to 28, and RJ's destinations from five to 57.

Financially, the company's revenues were JD1m in 1964, expecting them to reach JD682m in the 2008fiscal year. A large increase could be observed in employees' productivity, from JD4 in the year of establishment to JD159 per employee this year.

Privatization program:

Royal Jordanian was transformed into a public shareholding company fully owned by the government on February 5, 2001. Its capital rose to today's JD84.4m.

In December 2007, the Jordanian government floated 59.9 million shares for underwriting, representing 71% of the total issued share capital, keeping 29% of the shares. RJ shares started trading on the Amman Stock Exchange on December 17, 2007. At that time, Jordanians owned approximately 56.2% of the shares; Arab and foreigner investors owned the rest.

Fleet modernization program:

RJ employs 4,300 people in Jordan and at its outstations around the world, distinguished through their professionalism and expertise. They operate a modern fleet of 28 aircraft covering 57 destinations on four continents. The RJ fleet includes: Airbus A310, A319, A320, A321, A340, Fokker 28, Embraer 195s, Embraer 175s and Boeing 737 aircraft.

To date, Royal Jordanian concluded the modernization program of its short- and medium-haul fleet, having replaced the leased Airbus A310 and A320 aircraft with six modern, newly manufactured Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft for the short- and medium-range route network.

Additionally, RJ introduced seven newly manufactured 100-seat Embraer 195 and 75-seat Embraer 175 aircraft in order to operate on the short-haul routes, to meet the growing demand for travel in the region. It introduced some of these aircraft on capital lease basis, which will end in these aircraft being owned, and some on operational lease basis. They joined the fleet during 2007 and 2008.

The airline selected the wide-body Boeing 787 Dreamliner as a replacement aircraft for its long-range Airbus A340s and A310s operating to the United States, Canada and the Far East. It placed its order to introduce about 12 Boeing 787s under the airline's long-haul fleet modernization program.

The first B787s scheduled to join the fleet in 2010 are being delayed until the beginning of 2013, a Boeing decision. Negotiations are going on with Boeing to compensate RJ for this delay.

Locally, Royal Wings, an RJ subsidiary company, is dedicated to charter business, operating from Amman Civil Airport in Marka.

Route network:

Networkwise, the airline opened new services to Hong Kong and Kiev in 2008 and it will add Brussels next April. The new stations brought the airline's destinations to 57, spread over four continents. In order to cater to the demand, RJ is considering expanding its route network by adding new destinations during the coming three years to: Tehran, Ankara, Casablanca, Algiers, Berlin, Benghazi, Johannesburg, Lagos, Medina, Luxor and Izmir.

Royal Jordanian currently has marketing alliances, through code sharing, with several international airlines: Austrian Airlines, American Airlines, US Airways, Iberia, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Tarom, Gulf Air, Syrian Airlines, Yemen Airways and Thai International.

Joining the oneworld airline alliance:

In view of its reputation and international level of competitiveness, Royal Jordanian was invited to join the oneworld airline alliance. RJ is thus the first Arab and regional air carrier selected to join any of the three global airline alliances (oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance), and the first airline to join oneworld in the last five years.

The airline officially joined oneworld on April 1, 2007, after it completed all technical and technological requirements to become part of the grouping.

RJ's, Japan Airlines' and the Hungarian Malev's membership in oneworld represent 9,000 daily flights operated by ten airlines to more than 700 points in 150 countries. The oneworld member airlines operate 2,500 aircraft, carrying around 320 million passengers yearly. They attain annual revenues reaching $100bn.

Automated systems:

To meet all the requirements of its membership in the oneworld global alliance, RJ introduced several advanced, state-of-the-art systems to link up with the oneworld airline members; the most significant are the frequent flyer program (Hitit), the revenue management system (PROS) and the revenue accounting system (Sirax).

Other IT systems were also implemented to make it easier for passengers to deal with all travel procedures, like e-ticketing, Internet booking, advanced boarding pass and Common Use Self Service check-in system (CUSS), and a new Departure Control System. The airline launched a new 24/7 Call Centre, which offers RJ customers from all over the world reservation services, information regarding the frequent flyer program, flight schedules, luggage and ticket fares. Royal Jordanian provides competitive ticket prices and valuable offers to give wider choices to passengers.

Awards:

Royal Jordanian won five world-class awards, four of which are granted to the air transport industry and one national. It was awarded the Merit Award for the Airline Turnaround of the Year 2006 at the 3rd Annual Asia Pacific and Middle East Aviation Outlook Summit, held by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) in Singapore on Nov. 9 and 10, 2006. The award acknowledges the airline's successful turnaround and strong strategic contribution to the aviation industry.

On February 21, 2007, Air Transport World (ATW), the leading monthly magazine covering the global airline industry, presented RJ with the Phoenix Award at the 2007 ATW Airline Industry Achievement Awards in Washington. ATW's awards are of great significance to the international civil air transport.

Royal Jordanian was granted the 'Airline of the Year 2007' award, following a study performed by Air Finance Journal. The award is given once a year to the most distinguished and financially efficient airline worldwide. The Journal mentioned that the achievements of the airline over the last few years were a polestar to all observers of the air transport industry.

RJ was nominated the winner of the Airline Strategy Award in the technology category at the sixth annual Airline Strategy Awards organized by Airline Business magazine on July 15, 2007. It won the award in recognition of its major overall transformation from an unprofitable carrier to a lucrative commercial enterprise through the deployment of modern technology solutions.

The awards acknowledge that RJ has gone through a major transformation. After years of losses, Royal Jordanian changed its business model to focus on traffic within its home market, helping it return to profitability while nearly doubling in size in 2004 and 2005.

The airline also won King Abdullah II Award for Excellence in the large service organizations category. The award is considered the most prestigious reward for excellence at national level, for all sectors.