Royal Jordanian is currently undergoing an impressive fleet modernization and expansion. When it comes to wide body jets, the airline currently has seven Boeing 787-8s, and it plans to acquire six more Boeing 787-9s in the coming years, which basically doubles long haul capacity.
So, what exactly does the oneworld carrier have planned? We now have a sense of what to expect.
In this post:
Royal Jordanian outlines expansion plans
@IshrionA reports on how in a presentation, Royal Jordanian outlined its planned long haul expansion over the coming years. For context, in North America, Royal Jordanian currently serves Chicago (ORD), Detroit (DTW), Montreal (YUL), New York (JFK), and Toronto (YYZ). The airline also recently announced plans to add flights to Washington (IAD).
So, what else is on the horizon?
- Royal Jordanian plans to fly from Amman (AMM) to Dallas (DFW) starting in 2025
- Royal Jordanian plans to fly from Amman (AMM) to Miami (MIA) starting in 2026
- Royal Jordanian plans to fly from Amman (AMM) to Los Angeles (LAX) starting in 2028
Now, it’s anyone’s guess if these routes come to fruition, but that’s the plan as of now. What other markets is the airline considering, outside of North America?
- In 2025, Royal Jordanian wants to expand to Delhi (DEL) and Mumbai (BOM)
- In 2026, Royal Jordanian wants to expand to Beijing (PEK) and Dublin (DUB)
- In 2027, Royal Jordanian wants to expand to Birmingham (BHX) and Seoul (ICN)
Royal Jordanian’s expansion seems pretty predictable
At least in North America, Royal Jordanian’s expansion plans are almost exactly what you’d expect. Royal Jordanian is in the oneworld alliance, so adding service to Dallas, Miami, and Los Angeles, makes sense in terms of connectivity. A few thoughts:
- Dallas is a big market in and of itself, and on top of that, it’s American’s biggest hub, so this will offer one-stop service to all kinds of destinations Royal Jordanian can’t currently provide easy access to
- Miami is an interesting one; obviously it’s a market that has grown in recent years, though the most efficient connectivity would be to Latin America, and transiting the US isn’t always the best option
- I get the appeal in wanting to fly to Los Angeles, but Amman to Los Angeles is a really long route, and I question if the economics of that will work
But anyway, given Royal Jordanian’s existing markets, I don’t think there are any surprises here. The closest to a surprise would be that Boston isn’t on the list, but aside from that, it seems logical enough.
Bottom line
With Royal Jordanian greatly expanding its fleet, the airline has revealed what it plans to do with all of these new planes. In addition to the new Washington route launching in 2025, Royal Jordanian’s planned North American expansion includes Dallas flights in 2025, Miami flights in 2026, and Los Angeles flights in 2028.
What do you make of Royal Jordanian’s planned expansion?
Miami is a much larger market to the Levantine than Boston is. Royal Jordanian flew to both LAX and MIA in the late 80s/early 90s via Vienna.
DFW area has been gaining a huge Middle Eastern population over the past 10-12 years or so. It was only a matter of time that another Gulf airline would start service to DFW after EK, QR, TK.
Royal Jordanian isn't a "Gulf airline"...neither is Turkish for that matter.
Royal Jordanian will be at a disadvantage at LAX, compared to the three other Middle Eastern airlines that serve LAX (Turkish, Emirates, and Qatar). The other three serve Iran, and get lots of connecting passengers from the large Iranian population in LA. RJ doesn’t fly to Iran. Also, the other three airlines have far more flights to the Indian Subcontinent, and a lot of LA passengers on those three carriers fly to the Subcontinent.
The US routes make sense just because of AA hubs plus market density of LAX, though MIA seems an odd fit...I would have thought PHL a better fit.
Yep, American hubs... which explains why Boston isn't on the list of priorities
Miami is a large local market to the Middle East, Philadelphia isn’t even one fourth the size.
RJ used to fly to Los Angeles with L1011 Tristars.
The flight was one stop svc via Vienna:
LAX-VIE-AMM
And Miami was flown via Vienna with A310s.