Royal Jordanian cuts losses by 64%

The net loss of the airline was down by 64% in the first three months of this year, compared to the same period last year. The net loss of the first quarter reached JOD8.3 million, against JOD23 m incurred in the same months of 2014.

Chairman of the Board of Directors Suleiman Al Hafez said that the airlines’ financial results are seasonal in nature and they do not follow the same pattern throughout the year. He attributed drop in losses to lower oil prices and effective airline operations, due to a strategy that aims to increase revenues, cut costs wherever possible.

Hafez also said that the restructuring plan the company began to implement toward end of 2014 included shutting down eight destinations and phasing out some aircraft. The company also renegotiated all agreements with service providers and implemented effective initiatives to reduce expenses, which led to a drop in operating cost from JOD178 m during the first quarter of 2014 to JOD139 m in the same period of 2015, a 22% drop that resulted in a gross profit of JOD9.5 m.

The airline’s plan for the period 2015-2019 is to increase revenues to the maximum using offered capacity, to boost non-operational revenues and work on activities that yield the highest growing revenues.