Jordan Times
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Royal Jordanian to operate two daily flights to America
AMMAN (JT) — Royal Jordanian announced on
Wednesday that it would increase the frequency of its US-bound flights starting
mid-May in an effort to accommodate the high demand on the New York, Chicago and
Detroit routes.
RJ Vice President/Commercial Hussein Dabbas said this unprecedented increase in
the number of the flights to the US has boosted RJ's nonstop service to New York
from four to five weekly flights and to Chicago from three to six weekly
flights, in addition to two weekly flights to Detroit.
Last summer witnessed a remarkable demand on all routes, particularly those
servicing the US, the Arab Gulf and Europe, according to an RJ statement.
Increasing the frequency of flights gives more options to tourists or
businesspeople to secure timely connections, while also serving the Jordanian
and Arab communities residing in America, the statement said.
Moreover, the airline's code-share agreement with America West Airlines enables
RJ passengers to continue their flight with America West to its hubs in Phoenix,
Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and from there to other America West
destinations in the US, Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico.
The Kingdom and the US signed an “open skies” treaty in 1996, under which
airlines from either country are provided open access and unrestricted frequency
rights to points in both countries, the statement said.
RJ, SITA sign IT agreement
Meanwhile, RJ signed a contract with SITA earlier this week, under which the
latter will provide the airline with Horizon — a complete IT business solution.
This will thus enable interoperability with all the other airlines in the
oneworld alliance, which RJ was invited to join in October 2005, the statement
said.
RJ President/CEO Samer Majali signed the agreement with SITA Senior Vice
President for Passenger and Travel Solutions Richard Stokes.
He said SITA will offer a number of products and solutions, including
e-ticketing, enabling RJ to transform its business and attain IATA's 2007 100
per cent e-ticketing goal.
Majali added that the three-year agreement would enable the airline to make
significant progress via implementing SITA's Departure Control System (DCS) and
pricing, exposing RJ to a larger audience through the website and securing
Internet bookings.
Implementing online systems will allow RJ to optimise yield and reduce cost,
particularly in issuing a ticket, as paper tickets that cost $10 will be
replaced with e-tickets costing $1, Majali said.
“Some key elements were decisive in our choice of SITA's Horizon portfolio, not
least its e-commerce solution and its over 55-year experience in working with
giant world airlines. The agreement will increase our ability to reduce our
cost- base and increase our yield. It was important also that SITA could enable
us to comply with the oneworld requirements,” he said.
Majali added that the $3.2 million contract would provide IT applications that
are in concordance with RJ and oneworld requirements.
Around 600 staff from RJ's IT department will be given on-the-job training to
operate these applications, the statement said.
Stokes said that RJ has reason to be proud for having been invited to join
oneworld, pointing out that RJ's commitment to the alliance's standards of
safety, security and customer service were clearly reasons behind the
invitation.
“This move by Royal Jordanian to buy our Horizon portfolio is further
confirmation that airlines are looking for straightforward solutions to simplify
their distribution...,” Stokes added.