Royal Jordanian Adds Washington Flights, With Controversial Ad

Royal Jordanian has just put its newest route to the United States on sale, and the airline sure is marketing it in a unique way.

Royal Jordanian adds Amman to Washington route

As of March 23, 2025, Royal Jordanian will be launching 2x weekly nonstop flights between Amman (AMM) and Washington (IAD), as flagged by @IshrionA. The flight will operate with the following schedule on Sundays and Tuesdays:

RJ282 Amman to Washington departing 11:45AM arriving 5:45PM
RJ283 Washington to Amman departing 8:50PM arriving 3:25PM (+1 day)

The 5,965-mile flight is blocked at 13hr westbound and 11hr35min eastbound. Royal Jordanian will use a Boeing 787-8 for the route, featuring 270 seats. This includes 24 business class seats and 246 economy class seats.

Royal Jordanian’s current destinations in North America include Chicago (ORD), Detroit (DTW), Montreal (YUL), New York (JFK), and Toronto (YYZ). All of those are cities with large Middle Eastern populations, with Chicago and New York having the benefit of also being oneworld hubs, thanks to partner American Airlines.

The Washington to Amman route was served by United starting in May 2022. However, United suspended the route as of July 2024, and for now there are no signs of it returning, given the increased tensions in the region.

It’s going to be interesting to see if United ultimately restarts this service to compete with Royal Jordanian, or if Royal Jordanian has the market to itself. In terms of connections, obviously United has the advantage in Washington, while Royal Jordanian has the advantage in Amman.

Royal Jordanian’s unique marketing for this flight

While this flight is now on sale, last week Royal Jordanian starting hinting at this new service. On its official Instagram account, the airline teased this route with a video, as flagged by @FlyingHighRyan. In the short video:

• There’s first a red hat with the text “He is back!” written on it
• Then there’s a message saying “And we’re taking you right to the middle of the action!”
• Next, there’s a message saying “Fly Non-Stop to Washington D.C.”
• The final page says “Stay tuned!”

It’s hard to know whether the airline is actually serious with its positivity, or if the airline is trolling. This isn’t the first time that Royal Jordanian has gotten controversial with its marketing, and has involved politics.

In November 2016 (when Trump was running against Clinton), the airline had a fare sale to the United States, marketing the opportunity to “travel to the US while you’re still allowed to.”

Then in February 2017, when Trump instituted a travel ban for those from seven Muslim-majority countries, the airline had a “Bon Voyage” fare sale, with the “Bon” being written over the word “Ban.”

So either the carrier’s feelings have evolved, the airline is playing both sides, or the airline is trolling.

Expect a lot more growth from Royal Jordanian

In 2023, Royal Jordanian announced its impressive fleet renewal and expansion plans. Not only is the airline replacing many of its existing aircraft, but the fleet size will also grow considerably. This order consists of Airbus A320neos, Boeing 787-9s, and Embraer E190-Es.

Currently Royal Jordanian’s long haul fleet is comprised of just seven Boeing 787-8s. While the airline plans to continue flying those, it also has six Boeing 787-9s on order. That will basically double the carrier’s wide body capacity, given that the 787-9s are larger than the 787-8s.

The first 787-9s are expected to join Royal Jordanian’s fleet in 2025, so I imagine that will enable the carrier to add more long haul destinations, which haven’t been possible until now.

Bottom line

As of March 2025, Royal Jordanian plans to launch 2x weekly flights between Amman and Washington. This is a route that United tried to operate for some time, but which has been discontinued in recent months, in light of tensions in the region. Now Royal Jordanian is giving the route a try, and it’s even involving politics in the marketing of it.

What do you make of Royal Jordanian launching Washington flights?