- Royal Jordanian vows to make an operating profit this year as it implements a new turnaround plan.
- CEO Stefan Pichler expects a better year for the carrier after a bad first five months.
- Royal Jordanian will focus more on its regional market.
Jordan's national carrier, Royal Jordanian Airlines, expects to make an operating profit this year as it rolls out a new turnaround plan, its CEO told Reuters on Friday.
“I am pretty confident that after the first five months of this year, which were not very good, that we are going to have an operating profit in this year,” Stefan Pichler, who took over as CEO in June, said on the sidelines of the CAPA global summit in London.
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According to Reuters, Pichler said the board had approved a new turnaround plan last week that would get Royal Jordanian back to profitability. The carrier is also work on a fleet plan.
At the moment, Royal Jordanian flies a mix of Embraer, Airbus and Boeing jets, and Pichler told Reuters that it would move to a single narrowbody supplier in the future.
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“We are discussing with all suppliers,” he said.
Other plans for Royal Jordanian will be to focus on its regional market in the Levant and to take advantage of the Syrian market when it reopens.
Prior to joining Royal Jordanian, Pichler had occupied the positions of CEO of Air Berlin, CEO of Jazeera Airways, and CEO of Thomas Cook leisure group, among other roles in the travel industry.
