Royal Jordanian turns to higher-yield routes as regional conflict cuts traffic

Royal Jordanian is shifting capacity to higher-yield destinations to offset a fall in traffic tied to Middle East conflict, chief executive Samer Majali said. The carrier is also struggling to attract international visitors to Jordan.

Speaking at an industry conference in Brussels on 15 October, Majali said the main difficulty is drawing enough people to the country and the wider region. There had been no attacks on foreign visitors in three years, he said, but media coverage had exaggerated the risk and badly damaged demand.

Traffic fell 40% in March, right after US and Israeli strikes on Iran at the end of February, according to Majali. The airline responded by deploying aircraft on routes that earn more. He called that the only way to cope. The business normally depends on long-term planning, he said, but carriers cannot predict what happens next or what political statements follow.

Financial assistance is hard to obtain, Majali said, because Jordan's economy has been badly hit this year. The carrier, 95% state-owned, received government support to cover part of a higher fuel bill in the first half, help it said kept it in profit despite regional conditions. First-half net profit still fell to JD1.4 million ($2 million) from JD12.7 million a year earlier.

Majali also criticised a European Commission proposal to extend the EU emissions trading system to flights within 5,000km of Frankfurt, a range that would cover Jordan, unless the globally agreed carbon offsetting scheme is strengthened.