AMMAN: Royal Jordanian will operate its first flight to Najaf on July 13, launching a new regular service between Jordan and Iraq.
With this addition to the RJ network, the number of Iraqi destinations on the RJ network increased to six, including Mosul, which has been suspended since June 2014. Moreover, the number of flights between Jordan and Iraq rose to 31 weekly, including 12 weekly flights to Baghdad, nine to Erbil and four weekly flights to each of Basra and Sulaymaniyah, in addition to the two halted flights to Mosul.
RJ will operate two weekly flights to Najaf, on Mondays and Thursdays. On Mondays the flight takes off from its base at Queen Alia International Airport, Amman, at 11 am and reaches Najaf at 12:35 noon. The return flight departs from there at 13:20 and lands in Amman at 15:05. On Thursdays RJ operates its flights from Amman at 2:10 am and reaches Najaf at 3:45 am, whereas it takes off from Najaf at 5:25 am and arrives in Amman at 7:15 am.
Adding Najaf to the RJ routes comes in sync with the airline strategy to enter new markets in the Arab region in this stage. RJ will operate a new service to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia besides Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Medina.
The expansion that RJ is implementing is bound to strengthen the Levant strategy, which focuses mainly on boosting operations in the Middle East and opening new destinations in order to help the growing air transport within the region. Adding new routes to the network will increase travel and enhance commercial, social and cultural ties.
