AMMAN, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Royal Jordanian (RJ) Airlines said Tuesday it was working on a turnaround plan, aiming for the number-one airlines in eastern Mediterranean, by enhancing connectivity of its route network.
The airlines will enhance connectivity through RJ's hub in Amman and will simplify the fleet to run a consistent flight schedule and thus make future growth easier, the airlines' President Stefan Pichler said.
Pichler added that RJ will open new international routes in the coming five years, to Washington, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Cyprus' Kyrenia, and will resume flying on previously suspended routes, including Damascus, Mosul, Sanaa, Aden and Benghazi.
In terms of the fleet, the company will merge into a single supplier for all the narrow-body fleet from currently two aircraft manufacturers, considerably reducing expenses on maintenance, spare parts and training.
Additionally, the airlines will add more economy class seats in its narrow-body planes, and thus increase the earning capacity. It will also reduce the number of crown class seats while keeping the comfortable pitch of both classes.
Pichler noted that the current fleet of 26 aircraft will grow to reach 30 by 2021, and the five-year plan will include major initiatives that are expected to enhance unit revenues by 7 percent and lower unit costs by 6 percent.
The airlines' net profits in the third quarter of 2017 reached 31.8 million Jordanian dinars (44.85 U.S. dollars) compared to 12.9 million Jordanian dinars (18.19 dollars) the same period last year.
The number of passengers the airlines transported in the third quarter also rose by 5 percent over that of last year.
