Royal Jordanian blames tourism slump on Middle East conflict

Royal Jordanian is offsetting a sharp fall in demand caused by conflict in the Middle East by putting capacity into routes that bring in more revenue per passenger, according to chief executive Samer Majali.

The Amman-based carrier saw traffic drop 40% in March, shortly after US and Israeli strikes on Iran at the end of February. Speaking at an IATA conference in Brussels on 15 October, Majali said the main difficulty is persuading travellers to come to Jordan and the surrounding region at all.

He said there have been no attacks on foreign visitors in three years, and argued that media coverage has exaggerated the risk, leaving damage that he described as serious.

Majali said the airline has to make long-term decisions while facing constant uncertainty about what happens next, and that responding to the situation requires flexibility. He also said financial support is hard to secure because Jordan's economy has taken a heavy hit this year.

Royal Jordanian is 95% state-owned. It received government help covering part of a higher fuel bill in the first half of the year, which the carrier said kept it profitable despite regional conditions.

Even so, first-half net profit fell to JD1.4 million ($2 million), down from JD12.7 million a year earlier.

Majali also criticised a European Commission plan to widen the EU emissions trading system to flights within 5,000km (2,700nm) of Frankfurt, a distance that would take in Jordan, unless the globally agreed carbon offsetting scheme is strengthened.