Aviation History
Jordan's flag carrier began in 1963 as Alia - The Royal Jordanian Airline, named for King Hussein's daughter Princess Alia, and was renamed Royal Jordanian in 1986. The opening of Queen Alia International Airport near Amman in 1983 gave the country a modern international gateway, and Royal Jordanian went on to partially privatize and join the oneworld alliance in 2007, positioning Amman as a regional connecting hub.
Jordan's national carrier was established as Alia - The Royal Jordanian Airline, named after King Hussein's daughter, Princess Alia.
A new international airport south of Amman, named for Queen Alia, opened to replace the older Amman Civil Airport as Jordan's main gateway.
The airline adopted the name Royal Jordanian, the identity it has carried since.
Royal Jordanian became a full member of the oneworld airline alliance and underwent a partial privatization, listing shares on the Amman Stock Exchange.
Like most global carriers, Royal Jordanian suspended most scheduled flights during the pandemic before gradually restoring its network.
Royal Jordanian · Jordan Aviation · Arab Wings
Wikipedia, Royal Jordanian corporate history, oneworld alliance records
Aviation Firsts
Amman Civil Airport (Marka) — Amman (1950): Founded in 1950 by the British as a joint military-civilian airport, though British/RAF units had used the site since 1920 -- that earlier use is not described as the airport's founding. Served as Amman's main airport 1950-1983. Currently has no scheduled commercial passenger service, though sources describe this as 'set to resume in 2026'; used today for general aviation, air freight and an aviation training hub, and home to Arab Wings, Jordan International Air Cargo, and the HQ of Jordan Airports Company. · Wikipedia ↗
Queen Alia International Airport — Amman (1983): Original terminals built in 1983; the new terminal was opened by King Abdullah II on 14 March 2013. Jordan's main international gateway today. · AMM ↗ · Wikipedia ↗
Amman Civil Airport/Marka (1950) is the oldest named Jordanian airport found, though no evidence of an even earlier distinct 1920s civil airport was found this session (open gap, not ruled out); Queen Alia International Airport (1983) is the oldest airport still carrying Jordan's scheduled international traffic.
Royal Jordanian (1963): Founded as Alia - Royal Jordanian Airlines on 9 December 1963 by royal decree, operations began 15 December 1963; renamed Royal Jordanian in December 1986. No earlier Jordanian carrier (an 'Air Jordan,' 'Arab Airways' or 'Jordan Airways' predecessor) was found or ruled out this session -- an open research gap, not a confirmed absence. · RJ ↗ · Wikipedia ↗
Menzies Aviation (via AHS partnership) (United Kingdom), 2008: AHS (Aviation Handling Services), branded in "strategic partnership" with Menzies Aviation (UK), began operating as Queen Alia International Airport's second ground-handling agent in 2008 (Airport International Group awarded the 7-year contract 21 June 2008, per MEED). Jordan's civil aviation authority (CARC) lists Menzies alongside Royal Jordanian as QAIA's two handling agents. Menzies' equity stake in AHS itself could not be confirmed — all sources call it a "strategic partner," not an owner — so the safest framing is that Menzies (foreign, UK) partnered with AHS to become QAIA's second handling agent in 2008, not that AHS itself is foreign-owned. Confidence tentative. (best-documented candidate found — not source-confirmed as literally first.) · Menzies Aviation ↗
Fleet by Operator
Passengers by Operator
Annual Passenger Traffic by Airport
Airlines2
Live Air Traffic1 aircraft
Source: adsb.lol — community ADS-B network. Busiest of this country’s top 6 profiled airports by traffic right now, not a full national count.
Aircraft Spotted Here
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