Royal Jordanian to Al-Mamlaka: We are awaiting a decision from the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation to resume flights to Riyadh and Dammam airports.
اضافة اعلان
Royal Jordanian to Al-Mamlaka: Transit passengers have also been affected by the suspension of flights to Riyadh and Dammam.
Royal Jordanian to Al-Mamlaka: Passengers will not incur any additional costs as a result of the suspension of flights to and from Riyadh and Dammam airports.
Royal Jordanian CEO Samer Majali said between 500 and 700 passengers a day have been affected by the suspension of flights to Riyadh and Dammam in Saudi Arabia. He noted that the impact also extends to transit passengers using Queen Alia International Airport to connect to other destinations.
Speaking to Al-Mamlaka on Tuesday, Majali said the airline was awaiting a decision from the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation on resuming operations to Riyadh Airport. Once the Saudi decision is issued, the relevant Jordanian authorities will assess the possibility of resuming flights as soon as possible.
Majali explained that Royal Jordanian had been operating three to four daily flights to Riyadh and one or two daily flights to Dammam. Flights to Riyadh were suspended following an attack targeting the airport over the weekend, while operations to Dammam were halted as a precaution, although Saudi authorities had not closed the airport.
He said the decision to resume flights to Riyadh rests with the Saudi authorities, in coordination between the civil aviation authority and security agencies, once they determine that security conditions allow operations to resume safely. He added that some airport facilities had been damaged.
Majali stressed that Saudi airspace remains open to air traffic and that Royal Jordanian flights heading to the Gulf and the Far East continue to cross Saudi airspace, based on reports from the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation indicating that the airspace is safe. He clarified that the suspension is limited to operations to Riyadh and Dammam airports.
Regarding affected passengers, Majali said the airline would arrange travel for them on Royal Jordanian flights once operations resume, without charging additional fees for changing bookings, given that the current circumstances are beyond the control of both passengers and the airline.
He added that Royal Jordanian had increased its flights to Madinah and expanded available capacity to Bahrain International Airport, which could serve as an alternative for reaching Dammam. However, reaching Riyadh remains difficult under the current circumstances because Madinah is around 600 kilometres from Riyadh.
Majali noted that alternatives for reaching Riyadh are limited, apart from travelling by land. He said the airline was working to reduce the impact of the suspension on passengers and help them reach their final destinations as quickly as possible.
He also pointed out that the suspension has affected transit traffic through Queen Alia International Airport, particularly passengers travelling from or to Saudi Arabia to connect to other destinations. He stressed that the airline’s priorities are passenger safety and comfort, and that operations will resume as soon as conditions permit.
Royal Jordanian announced that its flights to and from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam remain temporarily suspended following the suspension of air operations by the relevant Saudi authorities in light of the current circumstances.
The airline said it was continuously monitoring developments and would work with Jordan’s Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission to resume flights to and from Riyadh and Dammam once Saudi airports and airspace reopen and all operational safety requirements have been confirmed.
Royal Jordanian thanked passengers for their understanding and cooperation under these exceptional circumstances.
Source: Al-Mamlaka
