Royal Jordanian sees greater losses spearheaded by unrest and fuel price rises

Royal Jordanian Airlines has suffered greater first-half losses compared to a year previously chief executive Hussein Dabbas revealed at a press conference in Amman
Time Aerospace thumbnail

 

Dabbas said he expected conditions to improve and that he anticipated that the July to September period would be profitable.

He attrinuted unrest in several nations across the region along with dramatically rising fuel costs as the cause of the $55.3 million losses.

Despite what it described as "these exceptional conditions", the airline increased the number of passengers carried by 5% in the first half of the year, to 1.4 million. There were particular increases in passengers between Jordan and the Arabian Gulf, France, India and the UK.

Measures taken to mitigate its problems included increasing its charter business by selling otherwise unused capacity on the open market, which led to a 22% rise in charter revenue in the first six months compared to the same period in 2010.

It also placed increased focus on cargo operations, giving a 16% rise in cargo revenues in the first half.

New destinations under study, said the airline, included several in East Africa - Asmara, Dar-Es-Salaam and Nairobi - and Central Asia and the Caucasus - Baku, Tashkent and Tbilisi.

 

Related content