AMMAN — The national carrier
Royal Jordanian (RJ) requested support from the government after the latter
earmarked JD36.1 million in funds to market three low-cost airlines — Ryanair,
EasyJet, and Wizz Air — to attract tourists to the Kingdom.
اضافة اعلان
RJ CEO
Samer Majali told
Jordan
News that the carrier has asked for a reciprocal relationship with the
government to ensure fair competition, since RJ provides the same service as
the other low-cost airlines. “Passengers require aviation, and that’s what we
offer.” RJ does not get any direct material support, he added.
He said that some airlines
provide fewer services than others, which explains why they fly at cheaper
rates, however “we all carry passengers”.
In 2020, RJ’s losses were
estimated at JD161 million despite some revenue, which was far less than
previous years’ revenue, and hardly enough to cover the airline’s fixed costs,
particularly as a result of a global lull in airline travel due to COVID-19 pandemic,
according to Majali.
An official source at the
Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) said that the board intends to provide support to RJ,
as well as to other national airline companies.
The source told
Jordan News that the board is in constant liaison and cooperation with national airlines,
more so recently due to the pandemic-related travel restrictions.
Moreover, the source said that
national airlines focus on tour operators that bring in tourists. Their recent attention
has been on religious tourism for visitors from Nigeria and RJ was nominated as
the national carrier for this type of tourism.
However, Yaser Abdo, a travel
agent and expert in the aviation sector, told
Jordan News that the tourism
sector remains the biggest loser as a result of the economic repercussions of
the pandemic at the global, regional, and national levels.
He said that most countries
have worked hard to create solutions to revive the tourism sector through
direct or indirect support as it constitutes a substantial share of a country’s
GDP, urging more assistance to both the tourism and aviation sectors due to the
important role they play in stimulating the economy.
From his side, Hani Suleiman,
a travel expert and the former director of commercial services at a national
airline, told
Jordan News that national airlines should increase their
marketing activities to catch up with low-cost airlines that have succeeded in
attracting larger numbers of passengers despite the fact that “they don’t offer
many of the standard services that bigger airlines provide, like food, beverage,
and seating options.”
Suleiman called on national
airlines to develop strategic plans to encourage government to support them,
and to attract foreign tourists.
Read more National news
.jpg)
.jpg)
