Royal Jordanian and El Al are both taking advantage of the continued stability in the Middle East to launch regional subsidiaries prompted by imminent signing of an Israel-Jordan bilateral, due by the end of December.
Royal Jordanian will rename its executive jet subsidiary, currently known as Arab Wings, Royal Wings and begin domestic services from Amman to Aqaba. The next move will be to launch an Amman-Tel Aviv service four or five times weekly, once the bilateral with Israel is signed, explains Royal Jordanian's president and chief executive officer Nader Dahabi.
The carrier has leased one Dash 8-300 from the manufacturer for 12 months - the trial period for the operation. The aircraft was due to arrive at the end of December.
Moreover, negotiations are currently underway with Egypt for Royal Wings to start direct services twice weekly from Amman to Alexandria from March. Royal Jordanian currently serves Alexandria via Cairo.
Additional regional routes will come if Royal Jordanian can acquire extra frequencies to Damascus, Beirut and Larnaca which would then be operated by Royal Wings.
El Al says it will lease an unspecific number of Dash 7s from domestic carrier Arkia but has yet to finalise the details of the operation. The carrier says it sees opportunities for expansion within the region, and points to the 20 per cent increase in arrivals to Israel in 1995 as an indication of future growth.
El Al and Royal Jordanian already cooperate on services to the US and Europe but there are no plans for cooperation at regional level.
Sara Guild
Source: Airline Business
