Royal Jordanian (RJ, Amman Queen Alia) took delivery of its first E190-E2 in early May 2024, but its fleet renewal programme has been slowed by a six-month delay in the delivery of its first A320neo Family aircraft.
JY-REC (msn 19020129), on lease from Azorra Aviation, was ferried via Recife and Gran Canaria to Amman Queen Alia over the course of May 2-4, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. It joins two E195-E2s already operated by Royal Jordanian, also on leases from Azorra. The carrier plans to take a total of eight Embraer regional jets, currently including one E190-E2 and seven E195-E2s, to replace its existing fleet of two E175s and two E195s. Two of the E195-E2s are ordered directly from the manufacturer, while the other aircraft will come from Azorra.
Royal Jordanian hopes that by growing its regional jet fleet, it will be able to add more frequencies on existing routes with lower trip cost than on narrowbody aircraft.
The airline is also renewing its narrowbody fleet, but chief executive Samer Majali told the Arabian Aerospace magazine that there was a significant delay.
"Unfortunately, Airbus has not done a great job. We should have started getting deliveries in May 2024 and they've been delayed until November 2024. So, we're very disappointed with Airbus for that," he said.
The carrier expects to take another twelve A320neo Family aircraft in 2025. Last year, Majali told ch-aviation that the carrier had already contracted thirteen A320-200Ns and three A321-200Ns from various lessors. It has no direct orders from Airbus.
The deliveries of six B787-9s the airline ordered last year are scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2025. Royal Jordanian will also refurbish the interiors of its seven B787-8s to match the new -9s. Majali said that the -8s will continue to operate until 2030.
