Royal Jordanian (RJ) signed an agreement with Airbus to introduce 20 new factory-built Airbus A320neo family aircraft to its fleet, replacing its current 13 A320ceo aircraft family fleet.
According to an RJ statement, RJ Vice Chairman/CEO Samer Majali said RJ’s 5-year growth strategy (2023-2028) boosts its positioning as the preferred air carrier in the Levant area, promoting Amman as a regional gateway and Jordan as a tourism destination.
The agreement is part of RJ’s plan to modernise its narrow-body fleet of aircraft that would serve its core destinations in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
Majali said the agreement would increase the total fleet size from 24 to over 40 aircraft within 3-5 years.
He added that the airline conducted thorough feasibility studies to decide on the best choice of aircraft that would replace the current A320ceo fleet.
The commonalities between the two models of aircraft in terms of fly-by-wire digital flight controls, cabin management systems, maintenance systems and parts would reduce the cost of pilot and technicians training and scheduling, lowering the investment expenditure as well as the operational and maintenance costs in service, the statement explained.
The aircraft will offer the latest ergonomically designed seats, wireless communication and internet and in-seat Inflight entertainment throughout the cabin. Some of the planes on longer-range routes will have lie-flat business class seats.
Majali said that RJ is negotiating with Boeing to increase the number of B787s in the fleet from 7 to 11. The airline is evaluating new B787-9 and -10 aircraft as potential growth aircraft and replacing the current fleet in due course.
RJ plans to introduce new regional aircraft in 2023 to give the airline the flexibility and advantage of growing its flight frequencies to all primary and secondary regional destinations to daily flights and higher and exploring new routes with the lowest risk.
The airline stated that they would announce the selected type soon.
Source: Jordan News Agency