Ammon News - Samer Majali, the CEO of Royal Jordanian (RJ), has pleaded for immediate assistance to help the national carrier overcome accumulated losses of JD321 million.

The company lost key revenue sources after some of its businesses were privatized, Majali told the House of Representatives Tourism, Antiquities, and Public Services Committee on Tuesday.

He also blamed his company's losses on fuel monopoly and exorbitant costs, as well as the failure to provide Royal Jordanian any preferential or special treatment, despite the fact that it competes with government-subsidized regional airlines.

The company's accumulated losses, according to the CEO, totaled JD321 million, or 99 percent of its capital, of which 161 million was a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic, during which air traffic was nearly halted.

Majali also told the lawmakers that the company is currently in talks with the government to raise its capital by about JD70 million.

Majali said that the company is reevaluating the destinations to which it flies and plans to increase them to 60 across the world, in addition to updating its fleet, as part of its strategic plan for the next five years.