LONDON – Jordanian carrier, Royal Jordanian (RJ), has recently had their Chief Executive Officer saying they would like to expand their Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet to eleven, instead of the current seven that the airline has.
Widebody expansion
In a recent announcement from the Amman-based carrier, it’s said that they are planning on replacing their older Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners, for the longer and more ordered 787-9 and 787-10 series aircraft. The announcement comes from Royal Jordanian CEO, Samer Majali during a press conference at the Bahrain International Airshow on Wednesday.
According to the National News, Royal Jordanian CEO Samer Majali stated: “We will probably approach both the leasing market and Boeing for purchases on these aircraft.”
“It’s a problem of deliveries: we’re actually quite rushed to be able to at least change our current fleet, let alone expand. The earliest you can get 787s is probably 2025 and we’re trying to push harder, but not possible.”
Narrowbody expansion
Back in October of this year, Royal Jordanian signed an intent to order and overhaul their narrow-body fleet with ordering new Airbus A320neo aircraft.
The initial order suits for 20 factory new Airbus A320neo aircraft, with aims to replace their aegeing Airbus A320ceo fleet, all part of the plan regarding a modernization of the narrow-body fleet that the carrier has.
With the A320neo’s reduced fuel usage, and better passenger comfort with the Airbus Airspace interior, the A320neo is just the right fit for the carrier, and the planes are already planned to serve Royal Jordanian’s key destinations in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Deliveries are also expected to happen over the next years.
To why the A320neo ended up as the aircraft of choice, Royal Jordanian CEO, Samer Majali, said: “The A320neo aircraft family is the best choice for fleet replacement and growth for Royal Jordanian in the coming few years for its core short and medium range operations.”
Also during the airshow on Wednesday, Royal Jordanian announced their engine of choice to power the new A320neo fleet, which ended on Pratt & Whitney’s Geared turbofans, seen on NEO’s elsewhere with carriers like Lufthansa, Swiss and Wizzair.
Embraer fleet overhaul?
Not long after their Airbus A320neo announcement. Royal Jordanian signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding), for ten Embraer E2-generation aircraft, with it being understood that it will be a mix of Embraer E190-E2’s along with E195-E2’s. However, an exact number remains unprovided.
According to CEO Samer Majali, the aircraft will be used on flights to destinations no further than two hours from their base in Amman.
With that announcement, Embraer CEO Arjan Meijer, commented: “Embraer is honored to be selected by RJ to provide the next generation of regional aircraft to their fleet.”
“The E2 family of advanced-generation E-Jets offers the quietest, lowest polluting, and most fuel-efficient aircraft in the under-150-seat market. We are proud to continue our long association with Royal Jordanian.”
Overall
It looks like Royal Jordanian are more or less updating their entire fleet despite having what are by some seen as “modern aircraft”. What will happen to the entirety of the fleet the new planes are set to replace, remains unknown, but an answer to that could be formally announced in the future as Royal Jordanian takes delivery of these new airplanes.
In terms of Dreamliners, Royal Jordanian will likely see benefits with the 787-9 and 787-10 variants, as they offer more capacity in terms of load, with the same engines and flight instruments.
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