A private Israeli airline will replace the national carrier El Al on flights to Jordan starting November 1, a senior aviation official told AFP on Monday.
"Arkia Airlines will start operations to Jordan on November 1 while El Al will stop operations on October 26," Amar Balqar, executive director for Royal Wings, a sister airline of the national carrier Royal Jordanian, said.
Arkia will make two flights to Jordan on Sundays, one on Mondays and one on Wednesdays, Balqar said, adding that the Israeli carrier will use Boeing 737 and Dash-7 aircraft for the services to Amman's Queen Alia Airport.
Arkia won a tender for this operation, Balqar said.
Industry sources said El Al's flights to Jordan were no longer commercially viable. In fact in recent weeks the Israeli national carrier was making only one or two flights a week to its Arab neighbor.
Many Israelis travel to Amman to connect with Royal Jordanian flights to the Far East, which are often less expensive than flights on Israeli airlines.
Royal Wings has nine flights a week between Amman and Tel Aviv and another three linking Amman and Haifa in line with a transport agreement signed between Jordan and Israel in 1996, two years after they signed a peace treaty.
Royal Jordanian however does not offer a service to Israel - JERUSALEM (AFP)
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