Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Royal Jordanian (RJ) will start a new direct regular route between Amman and the Turkish capital, Ankara, effective December 8, 2015, with three weekly flights.

RJ President/CEO Captain Suleiman Obeidat said in a statement on Tuesday that the RJ is expanding its network in Turkey by adding the Ankara route to that to Istanbul. This route is bound to cater for the demand of business traffic between the capital of Turkey and both Jordan and beyond. It will also serve Hajj and Umrah pilgrims.

Obeidat highlighted Ankara's significant geographical location in central Turkey at the crossroads of highways and railway networks. In addition, Ankara and its vicinity are important regional centers for trade and commerce.

He said that the new addition to the route network brings the number of RJ destinations to 55, pointing out that two new destinations will be added to the RJ route network before the end of the year. Also, RJ passengers flying from/to Amman can continue their travel to more than 1,000 destinations served by RJ’s partners in the one world airline alliance.

Royal Jordanian will operate to Ankara, on Thursdays, Sundays and Tuesdays bringing the number of flights between Jordan and Turkey to between 12 and 17 weekly, depending on the seasonal demand.

On Thursdays and Sundays, RJ flight (161) takes off from its base at Queen Alia International Airport, Amman, at 10:30 and reaches Ankara at 12:30. RJ flight (162) departs from Ankara at 13:10 and lands in Amman at 15:00.

On Tuesdays, RJ flight (161) takes off from Amman at 12:15 and reaches Ankara at 14:15; flight (162) takes off from Ankara at 15:45 and arrives in Amman at 17:35.

RJ customers may book their flights at any of its sales offices or agents in Jordan, Turkey and worldwide, through its booking engine at www.rj.com, or by contacting the RJ call center at +962 6 5100000.

RJ started first operating to Ankara in 1989 and suspended it in 2004 for commercial reasons.

Ankara’s Esenboga International Airport, which RJ will be using, was named the best airport in Europe by ACI Europe. In 2014, it served more than 11 million passengers in total.

The city of Ankara has a population of almost 6 million. Being centrally located in Anatolia, the daily total number of population reaches 11.2 million, as Ankara is the base for people's movement.