Royal Jordanian CEO: Time for change

The chief executive of Jordan’s national carrier has resigned saying that it was a time for the airline to have a change in leadership. Hussein Dabbas, who became the chief executive of Royal Jordanian (RJ) in 2009, said in comments carried by the press that his resignation will take effect on June 1. While Dabbas did not elaborate on the reason for his resignation, industry sources noted that Royal Jordanian did not perform well during 2011. The airline had to cancel more than 1,000 flights in 2011 due to low traffic and incurred about 58 million dinars ($81.2 million) in losses during the year. Dabbas said  RJ’s 2011 financial results were adversely affected due to high fuel prices. Dabbas said in a statement earlier this year that the company’s fuel bill was 293 million dinars last year, compared with 203 million dinars in 2010, leading to an increase of about 20 per cent in its overall operational costs. Unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen had a negative impact on Royal Jordanian and the region’s aviation industry in general, forcing the airline to close some of its routesfor several months.