ROYAL JORDANIAN (1969-76) - PART 3

ALIA-ROYAL JORDANIAN (1969-76)

 EXCELLENCE IN AIR

In our previous chapter, we left ALIA in a rather difficult position, the airline was affected by the 6-day war which left the company with almost no fleet and the occupation of the west bank which deprived the country from the most important source of tourist revenues.
Unfortunately, the political instability of the country will be the main factor of delaying the expansion of the company : the events of September 1970 known as “black September” did not certainly help. Between September 8 and October 4 1971 no less than 3 hijackings occurred on the sector Beirut-Amman with no casualties but disrupting the airline services.
The winter 1970/71 timetable 

Winter 1970/71 timetable from  www.timetableimages.com.Bjorn Larsson collection

still shows the limited network of the company.

Winter 1970/71 map

But in the same year, ALIA orders 2 Boeing 707-3D3C directly from the manufacturer and were delivered on January 26 and April 12 1971 respectively.


"Boeing 707-3D3C JY-ADO Alia LHR 22.08.71 edited-2" by RuthAS - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The delivery of the Boeings will allow the company to expand its services to Copenhagen, Madrid and Karachi in summer 1971

In 1972, ALIA acquires 2 Boeing 720 from PAN AMERICAN (clipper Star and Clipper Nonpareil) and were delivered in November 1972.


"Royal Jordanian Airlines Boeing 720 Groves" by Clinton Groves - http://www.airlinefan.com/airline-photos/1423420/Alia---Royal-Jordanian-Airline/Boeing/720/JY-ADS/. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.



"Boeing 720-030B, Alia - Royal Jordanian Airline AN1121407" by Michel Gilliand - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/Alia---Royal/Boeing-720-030B/1121407/L Photo http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/7/0/4/1121407.jpg. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.


Further expansion will occur in 1973 with services to Bahrain, Dubai, Muscat (short lived) and Rabbat (replaced by Casablanca in 1974). However, it is important to point out that in 1971, Syria banned its airspace to Jordanian aircrafts resulting in expensive re-routing of aircrafts through Egypt and Saudi Arabia. This led to the suspension of the Beirut services whose flight time increased to 4h.30 m instead of the 1 hour service, coupled of course with mounting losses. 1973 will see the loss of a Boeing 707 of ALIA chartered to Nigeria Airways as the aircraft crashed while landing in Kano killing 176 occupants out of 202. In 1974, the company will receive 3 Boeing 727-200 delivered respectively on July 30 (JY-ADR), August 14 (JY-ADU) and November 11, 1974 (JY-ADV)  respectively  as part of its strategic plan to remove the Caravelle from operations

1974 Summer timetable from  www.timetableimages.com.Bjorn Larsson collection

The 1974 first edition of the summer timetable does not include the operations of the B727 but mention the limted schedule of the Caravelle used on the following sectors (see table and map below)

1974 summer Caravelle operations ALIA

 The company established a charter subsidiary “JORDANIAN WORLD AIRWAYS” for passengers and cargo services. Now with a fleet consisting of 1 Boeing 707-320, 1 Caravelle 10R, 3 Boeing 727-200 and 2 Boeing 720B, according the world aircraft directory published by flight magazine on 29 March 1975 .

The 1975 summer timetable shows new services to: Geneva, Amsterdam, Brussels, Bangkok and Baghdad. Muscat is re-introduced but services to Nicosia and Istanbul are discontinued. The company introduces a joint service with China Airlines whereby CI will fly between Taipei and Bangkok to connect with RJ flights to Amman. Arab Wings is created with the Executive Jet Aviation (EJA) company to provide for business jet services in the Arab world.
Alas the year will witness the loss of another Boeing 707 while leased to Royal Air Maroc. The crash in Agadir will claim the lives of all 188 occupants of the jet. Nevertheless, ALIA will purchase 2 Boeing 707-384C from Olympic Airways (City of Athens and City of Corinth) to replace the lost aircrafts. The civil war erupts in Lebanon in 1975 and this will give the necessary impetus to ALIA to develop its services as Beirut loses its dominant role in the Middle East as a hub-and-spoke city. Furthermore, the development of ALIA is strongly tied to the vision of King Hussein in making Jordan the aeronautical center of the Arab world. The company carries, in 1975, 380,000 passengers with an average load factor of 49.4% and with a profit of GBP 647,000.
After the withdrawal of the Caravelle of active service, the Boeings 727 were put on the following sectors (see table and map below)

1974 summer B727 operations ALIA

In 1976, the company orders 2 Boeing 747-200 Combi to be delivered in 1977. New regional destinations are added: Aleppo, Deir-ez-zor ,Damascus and Vienna makes its entry in ALIA schedules. Worth noting in the summer 1976 timetable are the following routes :
AMMAN-DAMASCUS-ALEPPO
AMMAN-DAMASCUS-DEIREZZOR and
AMMAN-BAGHDAD-DHAHRAN

Summer 1976 European - East Asia network. ALIA

Summer 1976 Regional network. ALIA

ALIA  1969-1976 STATISTICS

In less than 7 years, the company was able to increase its network 3-fold and to double the number of its destinations making ALIA a serious contender for the replacement of MEA as a major Middle East carrier.

ALIA	1970	1974	1975	1976
NETWORK (in km)	18,212	31,389	40,740	55,664
DESTINATIONS	18	24	28	32
Africa-Middle East	12	14	16	19
Asia		1	2	2
Domestic		1	1	1
Europe	6	8	9	10
North America
SECTORS	16	24	28	35

You can read more on the fascinating history of Royal Jordanian Airlines in this blog at the following links

PART 1 Introduction to Jordanian Aviation

PART 2 1963-1968

PART 3 1969-1976 

PART 4 1977-1989