Royal Jordanian was established by a Royal Decree issued by His Majesty the late King Hussein in 1963 as the national air carrier of Jordan, with the aim of contributing to developing and promoting air trtavel services, creating beter ties with the world and promoting interaction with other cultures.
The drive to privatize and restructure the airline, several phases of which have been already implemented, saw the company register with a capital of JD40 million. The capital rose today to JD72.5 million.
The government will forge ahead with the privatization project after the leading consultant Citigroup extends financial, technical and legal advice to the government at the end of this year. The company is currently headed towards selling 74% of its shares to local and international investors (the JOrdanian government is keeping 26% of the shares), provided that Jordanians' share in the company is no less than 51%, including the government's.
Royal Jordanian's headquarters are located in the heart of the capital, Amman, and its flights are operated from Queen ALia International Airport. Its modern fleet of 24 aircraft covers 54 destinations across 4 continents. RJ employs 4,100 people in Jordan and at its outstations around the world. To date, Royal Jordanian concluded the modernization program of its' short and medium-haul fleet.
Royal Jordanian was invited to join the Oneworld airline alliance, the first Arab and regional air carrier selected to join, and the first airline to join Oneworld in the last five years.
Networkwise, the airline recently opened new nonstop services to Montreal and Budapest. It will also operate a regular flight to Hong Kong. The new station will bring the airline's destinations to 55, spreading over four continents.
RJ won King ABdullah II Award for Excellence in the large service organizations category. The Award is considered as the most prestigious reward for excellence at the national level, for all sectors. In addition, Royal Jordanian recently won two world-class awards granted to the air transport industry; it was awarded the Merit Award for the Airline Turnaround of the Year 2006, and the Phoenix Award at the 2007 Air Transport World AIrline Industry Achievement Awards in Washington. ATW's awards are of great significance to the international civil air transport. RJ was also nominated as the winner of the Airline Strategy Award in the technology category at the sixth annual Airline Strategy Awards by Airline Business Magazine.