Jordan Times
Monday, September 17, 2001

Royal Jordanian resumes US-bound flights, staff pay condolences at US embassy

The first flight was scheduled to depart on Sunday at 11:00pm to New York with a full load of passengers, a company statement said.

“Normal operations will resume as of Monday with a flight to Chicago and an extra flight scheduled to New York,” the statement also said. The airline said a flight to Detroit was scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 18.

Due to the strict security regulations being implemented on all departing flights, RJ recommended that passengers arrive at the airport not less than three hours prior to any scheduled departure.

The US closed its airspace to international flights and grounded all domestic flights after the attacks. Flights were partially resumed on a case-by-case basis on Saturday.

Two US-bound RJ flights were making a stopover in Shannon, Ireland, when three hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, on Tuesday.

Both planes returned to Amman the day after.

RJ President and CEO Samer Majali said last week the flag carrier incurred losses “in the range of hundreds of thousands of dollars” as a result of the disruption in air traffic following the attacks.

Meanwhile, a Royal Jordanian delegation led by Majali visited the US embassy in Amman yesterday to pay condolences over the victims of last Tuesday's devastating attacks in which more than 5,000 people are presumed to have been killed.

The delegation expressed their sympathy and sorrow to people of the United States, and to the families of the passengers and crew of the four hijacked American Airlines and United Airlines planes who perished in the attacks.

The RJ group, on behalf of the airline's employees worldwide, condemned the hijackings, saying such acts jeopardise the lives of innocent people and the safety of civil aviation.

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