Air Arabia Jordan moves to charter services

Middle East LCC Air Arabia is largely limiting its operations from its Jordanian hub to charter flights, after being unable to secure enough traffic rights to allow it to expand its scheduled services. The carrier started services from the Jordanian capital, Amman, in 2015 after it set up a joint venture with local carrier Petra Airways, operating under the title Air Arabia Jordan. The airline bases two A320s in Amman. “We still do scheduled [flights] but it’s very small,” said Air Arabia CEO Adel Ali. “We’ve not been able to secure sufficient traffic rights that we want to improve the business.” Scheduled services from Amman at present are mainly to Egyptian tourist resort Sharm El-Sheikh and Saudi Arabia, he said. However, “there seems to be sufficient demand for charters,” Ali said, noting that would continue to be the main activity out of the Jordanian capital until more scheduled rights could be secured. Charter operations were being undertaken to surrounding countries and to Europe. <br/>