Soumya Maheshwari
20-Jun-2025
With a focus on tourism, digital innovation, and regional dominance, Royal Jordanian is reimagining its role in global aviation. Chief Commercial Officer Karim Makhlouf charts the airline’s ambitious course — from Amman to India and beyond.
With its commitment to world-class service, Royal Jordanian Airlines has been creating joyful journeys for travellers across the globe. With its growth strategy bringing in stronger connectivity, Royal Jordanian has launched its flight from Mumbai, making a renewed commitment to fostering tourism and cultural exchange.
Excerpts from a conversation with Karim Makhlouf, CCO, Royal Jordanian:
1. Royal Jordanian has been steadily rebuilding and expanding its network—what’s the vision behind RJ’s next phase of growth?
Our expansion strategy is built on two main strategic pillars. First, promoting Jordan as a premier tourist destination globally. To support this, we are actively repositioning Royal Jordanian as a tourism-driven airline, rather than focusing solely on traditional global connectivity. We work closely with tour operators and travel agents to curate and sell packages that stimulate inbound tourism.
The second pillar is establishing Amman as the leading gateway to the Levant — the region encompassing Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, and parts of southern Egypt and Israel. This area represents a combined population of approximately 120 million people. Our vision is for Royal Jordanian to become the strongest carrier in the region.
2. With RJ finally set to begin flights to Mumbai and Delhi, how do you view India’s role as both a source and destination for global tourism?
India is a very strong and rapidly growing market. The middle class is expanding significantly, creating a huge potential for travel. There are two major aviation powerhouses in Asia — India and China. For us, India is more accessible due to its geographical proximity, which makes it a natural focus.
We see a dual opportunity here: we aim to capture outbound travel from India, and are also actively working to promote tourism from Jordan into India. Many Jordanians still have limited awareness about what India has to offer. To help bridge this gap, we brought two Jordanian influencers on our inaugural flight. They will spend three nights in and around Mumbai, capturing their experiences to share back home.
3. Are you looking to expand to other Indian cities?
We have a strong interline agreement with Air India, which enables seamless connectivity beyond Mumbai to over 35 destinations across the country. In essence, this means Jordan is already well-connected to all of India. Wherever Air India flies, we can offer onwards connections through our network — all on a single ticket. This creates a convenient and attractive option for potential tourists from virtually any Indian city.
Currently, our primary online focus is on Mumbai and Delhi. These are our main gateways, and we will continue to evaluate demand to determine future expansion.
4. Can you share more about the experiences curated for travellers as part of the 'Explore Jordan' initiative?
Through the ‘Explore Jordan’ initiative, we aim to position Jordan as a modern expression of authentic Arabia. Today, much of the Arab world is viewed through stereotypes and the perception is dominated by ultra-luxury experiences. Yet Jordan offers something different. We have a diverse natural landscape: mountains, the lowest point on Earth at the Dead Sea, the Red Sea coastline, and Amman. Very few people know Amman as a destination by itself, and that is something we are actively working to change. Additionally, culinary tourism is an emerging highlight — we even have two local winemakers and we are beginning to include these experiences in our offerings. For adventure seekers, the Jordan Trail, which stretches 650 kilometres is an exciting experience. Then there is Petra — one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the crown jewel of Jordan’s tourism.
We are developing all these experiences into well-curated travel offerings. And as an airline, we have made the strategic decision to focus primarily on tourism rather than just traditional hub connectivity.
5. You’ve mentioned a distinct business model for India focused on travel agents. How does this channel strategy work effectively in India?
In India, travel agents remain the primary drivers of sales and package bookings. While there are now major OTAs, large tour operators, and powerful consolidators influencing the Indian travel market, it is still very different from regions like Europe or the US, where travellers build their own itineraries online.
That is why we are working very closely with Indian travel agents and tour operators to put Jordan firmly on the travel shelf. Jordan is a fascinating destination, but it is not the kind of place most people can explore entirely on their own without guidance. You still need some local insight to know how to sequence the experiences. We are engaging aggressively with the trade community here, and I would confidently say that Royal Jordanian is currently one of the most travel agent-friendly airlines operating in India and we’re extremely flexible in our approach.
6, With over four decades in aviation, how have you seen the global airline industry evolve, particularly post-pandemic?
Aviation is experiencing a strong resurgence. In fact, it has been a growth industry for decades — consistently expanding at an average global rate of around 5 per cent. This year we are set to reach a record number of passengers and revenue. And this shows that aviation is driving GDP.
The next major evolution in aviation is digitalisation. We are already seeing the widespread adoption of cloud-based solutions, and advancements like NDC (New Distribution Capability) and offer-order management systems are reshaping the way airlines interact with customers.
7. Travellers are now more conscious of health, convenience, and flexibility than ever. How is RJ adapting its in-flight and booking experiences to meet these new demands?
We are making significant investments in technology and digitalisation. My vision for the coming years is to ensure that travel packages under the Explore Jordan initiative become fully bookable online. To make this possible, we are enhancing our digital infrastructure, including mobile apps, websites, and advanced solutions for offer and order management, as well as dynamic pricing.
At the same time, we continue to collaborate closely with our partners — tour operators and travel agents — to strengthen direct-to-consumer sales. One of the key enablers here is NDC (New Distribution Capability), which is rapidly becoming a game-changer for many tour operator consolidators.
8. Sustainability is now central to aviation. What steps is RJ taking toward greener operations, including fuel alternatives or fleet modernisation?
Fleet modernisation is a key priority for us. Over the next 12 months, we are adding around 16 brand new aircrafts, which is mainly a re-fleeting and expansion. This will significantly reduce our average fleet age to three to four years. With the introduction of next-generation aircraft such as the A320neo, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, and the fuel-efficient E2 regional jets, we are set to reduce our carbon emissions by an average of 32% over the coming years.
As a member of the Oneworld alliance, we are fully committed to exploring and adopting alternative fuel solutions. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is now a major focus area for us, and we are actively working with alliance partners to meet ambitious sustainability targets — including significantly increasing SAF usage by 2030.
9. What’s next for you?
Next for me here in India is to position Jordan as the new destination for Indians. Jordan offers visa-on-arrival for Indian citizens, which is a major advantage — and if you book through a tour package, the visa is even free. These are key incentives we are focusing on to drive growth from the Indian market and, ideally, move toward daily flights by next year.
