Royal Jordanian to join oneworld alliance

Royal Jordanian is to become the first airline accepted to join oneworld in more than five years.

Royal Jordanian has already satisfied oneworld's key pre-joining audits, assuring the grouping that it can deliver the alliance's services, benefits and processes and also match its quality and safety standards.

Work will now begin on connecting its IT systems to those of its new partners, bringing key internal processes into line with oneworld requirements, training its employees to deliver oneworld products, customer benefits and support, and completing the other tasks needed before it can become a fully-fledged member of the alliance.

It should start offering oneworld services and benefits, as a fully-fledged member of the alliance, at around the turn of 2006/2007.

Royal Jordanian's Chief Executive Samer Majali said, "This development is in tune with our ambition to privatise and to strengthen Amman's role as a regional hub. We are delighted to strengthen oneworld's excellent worldwide network with better coverage of our region.

"Our passengers are increasingly asking more from us and oneworld will extend our reach enormously. Royal Jordanian's passengers will enjoy privileged access to a group of airlines that we trust and are certain to take excellent care of them."

At present, Iberia is the only oneworld partner with a bilateral agreement with Royal Jordanian, code-sharing on the latter's flights between their Amman and Madrid home bases. Bilateral agreements between Royal Jordanian and the alliance's other existing members are expected to be developed in hand with its recruitment to the grouping.

Royal Jordanian has an extensive network throughout the Levant, Middle East and Gulf region. Further afield, it currently operates to London Heathrow, Madrid, Barcelona, New York JFK, Chicago O'Hare and Bangkok.

The airline will add two countries to the oneworld map (Iraq and Yemen) and 10 destinations - Al Arish and Alexandria (Egypt), Al Ain (UAE), Aden and Sanaa (Yemen), Dammam and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Aqaba (Jordan), and Baghdad, Basra and Irbil (Iraq). This will extend the alliance's network to 135 territories and 609 destinations.

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