Ammon News - The Jordanian civil aviation authority JCAA, has continued to liberalise its airspace with the granting of approval for independent carrier Petra Airlines to move from being a charter operator to offering full scheduled passenger services from next spring


Petra was founded in 2005 as a division of the Rum Group, but did not launch operations until October 2010 when it took delivery of its first aircraft. Over the subsequent two years it has operated two Airbus A320s on charter work across a network that has included destinations in Armenia, Egypt, Italy, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Petra has opted to expand into the scheduled market and has fulfilled all the technical and economic requirements to be a schedule operator has now received a new operating licence from Jordanian authorities.

It plans to take advantage of the Open Skies arrangements between Jordan and Saudi Arabia and the European Union as well as the ending of exclusive traffic rights for national carrier Royal Jordanian to become a credible alternative to the flag carrier.

In a profile by Routes Hub, the CEO Riad Khashman said: “We have gained experience and positioned our brand in the regional market while gaining the consumers and stakeholders confidence. We have now completed the first phase of operation successfully and are moving towards the next phase as the first low-cost carrier in Jordan.”

The carrier is expected to begin scheduled services in March 2013 from a base at Queen Alia International Airport in the Jordanian capital Amman.

To support its scheduled growth Petra Airlines has already committed to increasing its fleet. It initially launched operations with two A320s and it has already agreed terms to add a third aircraft of the same type in early 2013. “We have plans to operate 5 A320s by 2014 and have a schedule flight to most of the major cities in the MENA and GCC regions using Queen Alia International Airport in Amman as a hub,” Khashman added.

Petra has also become a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO). “AACO is an important association for us to be incorporated into this collaboration,” Khashman told The Hub.. “I believe that this cooperation will provide great opportunities and will be beneficial for us and all the member airlines