Established in 1963 by the then King Hussain of Jordan and named after his eldest child, Alia, this was originally a private airline although later taken over by the Jordanian government and established as the country’s flag carrier.
Today we know it as Royal Jordanian Airlines, and it recently introduced a new livery with the introduction of its first Embraer E2 and Airbus A321P2F aircraft.
Royal Jordanian Airlines History
RuthAS, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Regional services with Douglas DC-7s and Handley Page Heralds were the initial operations of Alia, later expanding into Europe with a service to Rome.
Despite the loss of one DC-7 from an Israeli air strike during the Six-Day War, the airline continued to expand and in 1968 took delivery of its first jet, the Sud Aviation Caravelle.
It’s early livery was very much of the time, consisting of a cheatline over the windows, extending up the tail with titles both on the fuselage and tail. In Alia’s case, the colours were orange and gold.
Eduard Marmet, CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL 1.2, via Wikimedia Commons
The 1970s saw the introduction of many of Boeing’s offerings, initially the 707 and later 720s, 727s and right up to the 747.
In the 1980s, further expansion occurred and also a move away from an all-Boeing fleet with the introduction of the Lockheed L1011, plus A310s and A320s from Airbus.
Change of Name
Around the same time, a new name, Royal Jordanian, was introduced along with a new livery, making both the tail and underside of the aircraft mainly red with a crown logo on the tail also.
There was a short-lived grey trial livery applied to one of the Tristars, but it never made it to become the airline’s new standard.
By the turn of the millennium, the airline had turned its thoughts to fleet renewal and about becoming the first Arab airline to join an alliance when it became part of Oneworld.
It had also changed its livery once again to the scheme seen throughout much of the 1990s and 2000s. A very regal scheme, it featured a grey and black fuselage and tail, with golden crown and cheatline, and white underbelly.
In early 2024 Royal Jordanian introduced its first Embraer E195-E2 aircraft, and with them a modified livery. This has retained the dark grey colour,but simplified the scheme and extended it to the lower fuselage, with sweeps of red and gold.
The introduction of the airline’s first Airbus A321 freighter (replacing the older A310) also saw this new livery, with large white ‘CARGO’ titles.
Royal Jordanian Fleet and Operations
Photo (c) Eric Johnston
Today, Royal Jordanian Airlines flies to some 51 destinations from its hub at Amman’s Queen Alia airport.
Its fleet comprises:
- 1x Airbus A310-200F
- 3x Airbus A319-100
- 9x Airbus A320-200
- 2x Airbus A321-200
- 1x Airbus A321-200P2F
- 7x Boeing 787-8
- 2x Embraer E175
- 2x Embraer E195-E2 (+2 on order)
Additionally it has 20x Airbus A320neo, 6x Boeing 787-9 and 4x Embraer E190-E2 on order.
Lost Airline Colours of Asia
Parts of this article were compiled from the excellent book, Lost Airline Colours of Asia, by Martyn Cartledge. In it, you’ll find hundreds of photographs of lost airlines and liveries from all over Asia, including countries in the Middle East like Jordan.
Take a trip down memory lane! Available at this link: https://destinworld.com/product/lost-airline-colours-of-asia/
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