Royal Jordanian facts for kids
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| Founded | 9 December 1963 as Alia Airlines – Royal Jordanian Airlines |
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| Hubs | Amman–Queen Alia |
| Focus cities | Aqaba–King Hussein |
| Frequent-flyer program | Royal Club |
| Alliance | Oneworld |
| Subsidiaries |
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| Fleet size | 28 |
| Destinations | 51 |
| Headquarters | Amman, Jordan |
| Key people |
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| Profit | −12$ million (2023) |
| Website | rj.com |
Royal Jordanian Airlines is the main airline of Jordan. It used to be called Alia Royal Jordanian Airlines. Its main office is in Amman, the capital city of Jordan.
The airline flies to many countries across four continents. Its main base is at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman. Royal Jordanian has over 500 flights each week. It joined the Oneworld group of airlines in 2007.
Contents
History of Royal Jordanian
How Royal Jordanian Started
The airline began on December 9, 1963. It started flying on December 15, 1963. This happened after a special order from the late King Hussein of Jordan. The airline was first named Alia after King Hussein's oldest daughter, Princess Alia bint Hussein. Some people mistakenly think it was named after his third wife, Queen Alia, but he married her much later.
Alia started with two smaller planes, called Handley Page Dart Heralds, and one Douglas DC-7. It flew to nearby cities like Kuwait City, Beirut, and Cairo from Amman. In 1964, it added another DC-7 and started flights to Jeddah. In 1965, Alia flew to Rome, which was its first flight to Europe.
Challenges and Growth
The airline faced a big challenge in 1967. During the Six-Day War, its DC-7 planes were destroyed in an air raid. They were quickly replaced with two Fokker F27 Friendship planes.
In 1968, Alia started using jet planes, like the Sud Aviation Caravelle. It added new places to fly to, such as Nicosia, Benghazi, and Doha. By 1969, flights to Munich, Istanbul, and Tehran were also available.
In the 1970s, Alia got rid of its F27 planes and ordered Boeing 707 jets. New cities like Frankfurt and Abu Dhabi were added to the flight map. The 707s arrived in 1971. That year, flights began to Madrid, Copenhagen, and Karachi.
Later in the 1970s, the airline added more types of Boeing planes, including the 720s, 727s, and 747s. They also started a food service for flights and opened duty-free shops at Amman airport. More destinations were added, including New York City.
Becoming Royal Jordanian
In the 1980s, cities like Tunis and Tripoli joined the flight network. The airline also got its own computer center. Newer planes like Lockheed L-1011 Tristars, Airbus A310s, and Airbus A320s joined the fleet.
In December 1986, Alia officially changed its name to Royal Jordanian Airlines. This was around the time Princess Alia was getting divorced. During this decade, the airline also had its first woman pilot. Flights were added to many more cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and Moscow.
The 1990s brought even more growth. Royal Jordanian joined a big computer system for booking flights called Galileo CRS. A new city terminal was opened in Amman. Flights were added to places like Toronto, Colombo, Jakarta, Berlin, and Milan. In 1997, Royal Jordanian started working with the US airline Trans World Airlines.
Royal Jordanian Today
In 2000, the airline's maintenance team got its license renewed by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Some services, like the duty-free shop, became private businesses. In 2001, the airline's official name changed slightly to Alia – The Royal Jordanian Airlines Company, but most people still call it Royal Jordanian.
In April 2007, Royal Jordanian became part of Oneworld. This made it the first Arab airline to join such a big global airline group. The next month, the airline ordered 10 new Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes. These were the first Boeing planes Royal Jordanian had ordered in a long time.
Montreal was added back to the flight map in May 2007. Royal Jordanian also sponsored the World Economic Forum held in Jordan. In July 2007, Royal Jordanian celebrated 30 years of non-stop flights between Amman and New York City. This was a record for an Arab airline.
The airline started cargo flights in July 2007, with Damascus as the first destination. Royal Jordanian also began flying to Budapest in July, using smaller Embraer 195 planes. They also opened a new lounge at King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba.
Royal Jordanian was one of the first airlines in the Middle East to offer internet and mobile phone services on its flights. This included email, texts, and phone calls.
At the end of 2007, Royal Jordanian became a private company. Most of its shares were sold. In January 2008, Royal Jordanian started flights to Hong Kong through Bangkok. This was the airline's first route to China.
In March 2008, the Airbus A319 joined the fleet. This made Royal Jordanian the first Middle East airline to use three different types of Airbus A320 family planes. In August 2008, Royal Jordanian opened a large new lounge at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman.
To show its commitment to the Oneworld alliance, Royal Jordanian painted one of its new A319 planes with a special Oneworld design in 2009. This was the first time Royal Jordanian used a special paint scheme on a plane.
Royal Jordanian started flying to Brussels again in April 2009. In March 2010, it began regular direct flights to Madinah Munawwarah in Saudi Arabia. The airline also started flying to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, again in June 2010.
In 2014, Royal Jordanian had to stop flights to Mosul in Iraq because of fighting in the area. The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes joined Royal Jordanian's fleet in September 2014. These new planes replaced older Airbus A340s and A330s. Dreamliners are now used for long flights to places like London and North America.
Royal Jordanian Business
Main Office
Royal Jordanian has a modern head office building in Amman. It was finished in late 2011, and employees started working there in January 2012.
Employees
Royal Jordanian invests a lot in training its flight crews at its headquarters. In 2015, Royal Jordanian had 4,394 employees working for the airline.
Competition
Since 2002, Royal Jordanian has focused on flying more often to nearby countries. They wanted to become the main "regional airline" in the Middle East. They added smaller routes that bigger airlines like Emirates might not fly. This plan worked well for a while.
However, since 2008, Royal Jordanian has faced more competition. Many new, cheaper airlines like Air Arabia and flydubai have started flying. To compete, Royal Jordanian has worked on making its service better, both on the plane and at the airport.
What Royal Jordanian Offers
Food and Drinks
Food and drinks on flights leaving Amman are provided by a company called Dnata. If a flight is at least three hours long, you will get a hot meal. For shorter flights, like those to Tel Aviv or Beirut, the crew will offer snacks and drinks.
In-flight Entertainment
Royal Jordanian's entertainment system on board is called "Sky Cinema".
- In Economy Class on Airbus and Boeing planes, every passenger has their own screen. You can choose movies, TV shows, music, and games.
- In Crown Class (first class), passengers also have personal screens with a large selection of entertainment. On smaller Embraer planes, Crown Class passengers get portable entertainment devices.
You can play interactive games on all flights. News from CNN is also available. On very short flights, only games, CNN News, and a comedy channel are available because the flight is too short to watch a full movie.
Seats
In Crown Class on the Boeing 787 Dreamliners, the seats can turn into fully flat beds. In Economy Class, Royal Jordanian offers comfortable seats with a good amount of legroom. All Economy Class seats also have a foot-rest.
Crown Class Lounges
Crown Class passengers can use special lounges at airports around the world. This includes lounges of other Oneworld airline members. Royal Jordanian has two of its own lounges: one at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman and another at King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba. The lounge in Amman is very large and can hold over 340 passengers.
Frequent Flyer Program
Royal Club is Royal Jordanian's program for frequent flyers. You earn miles based on how much you fly and where you go. You can also earn miles by flying with other Oneworld airlines. Members with Silver, Gold, or Platinum cards can use special airport services. Gold and Platinum members also get access to airport lounges.
Safety and Incidents
Royal Jordanian has had some aviation incidents and hijackings in its history. Some of these were serious. The airline's most serious accidents happened in Nigeria in 1973 and Morocco in 1975. These incidents involved chartered Boeing 707 planes.
Since the airline changed its name to Royal Jordanian Airlines in 1986, there has been one fatal incident. This happened on July 5, 2000, when a person trying to get political asylum was killed by a security agent on a flight from Amman to Damascus.
Royal Jordanian works hard to ensure the safety of its passengers and crew.
Images for kids
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Royal Jordanian Airbus A321-200 in the retro Alia livery.
See also
In Spanish: Royal Jordanian para niños
