Fly Aqaba is a new Saudi and Jordanian airline that saw light when investors sought out to enter the travel and tourism industry after the sector saw post-pandemic recovery.
Fly Aqaba, a private sector possession, will be based in Aqaba. The carrier hasn’t yet revealed the time of commencement of its operations.
Jordan’s Fly Aqaba
On October 17, the Jordan Times reported that the Fly Aqaba Company and the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) had authenticated a USD 20 million investment deal to inaugurate an airline dubbed Fly Aqaba. This privately possessed airline will be financed by Saudi-Jordanian investments and will hail from the Aqaba Airport, which is also familiarly known as the King Hussein International Airport.
Presently, only ambiguous details of the Fly Aqaba operations are known. It is still uncertain as to where this new startup carrier will be flying. Nayef Bakheet, Presidents of ASEZA stated that the firm will fly to the Jordanian capital – Amman, as well as nations in the Persian Gulf, Europe, and others in the Middle East. In the interim, Reuters reported that the airline will only fly 2 planes in its preliminary stage of operations. The details about the plane remain undisclosed.
Bakheet indicated that the airline’s target is to create tourist accessibility to Jordan’s ‘Golden Triangle’. This area encompasses the most renowned destinations of Petra, Wadi Rum, and Aqaba. The President of ASEZA, Bakheet, stressed that the carrier will be based out of the King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba and allow air networks to be made with regional, local, and international destinations. Bakheet is hopeful about the airline’s operations and has faith that it will create a boost to Jordan and Aqaba’s tourism sector with the inclusion of inexpensive ticket rates.
The Fly Aqaba airline is presently awaiting all the essential licenses needed from the Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission. The operation is far from being a new idea. Two anonymous sources indicated that the Fly Aqaba operations have been in the pipeline for 3 years now.
Airline History, a website dedicated to airline enthusiasts, stated that the Fly Aqaba carrier had planned to initially launch its operations in 2019. A November 2018 report by ch-aviation stated that ASEZA was hoping to possess the Operators License of Royal Wings and Air Operators Certificate for the carrier. The ch-aviation report stated that the transaction was worth JOD 185,000 (USD 11,07,207.18).
With maturing travel demand witnessed all around the world, after the recuperation from the COVID19 pandemic, investors expect the present moment to be a good time to begin operations of a new airline. Travelers have been excessively looking for more direct flights that avoid layovers. Also, with several wet-lease operators and used planes in the market, it might not be too challenging for Fly Aqaba to establish its foremost fleet of aircraft.
Parallelly, the carrier’s operations in Europe will already be attended to with stringent competition from airlines like Wizz Air and EasyJet, who already deliver links with Rome, Vienna, Budapest, and Manchester to Fly Aqaba.
Fadi Abu Arish, Executive General Manager of Fly Aqaba Company, stated that the deal between Saudi and Jordanian investors fortifies the tourism industry in Aqaba by connecting it to the countries across the globe at nominal airfares.
Commissioner for tourism and investments at the Aqaba Authority, Sharhabeel Madi, stated that the Saudi investment in Jordan is crucial as it is proof of the nation’s versatile investment ecosystem that delivers numerous profits.
General Manager of Fly Aqaba, Nasser Aliani, stated that the investment deal was the result of the cooperation betwixt Saudi Arabia and Jordan to attend to the interests of the citizens and to aid in the boost of the Jordanian economy.
The COVID19 pandemic had significantly smashed Jordan’s tourism and travel sector, which attributed almost 14% of the country’s GDP. The Fly Aqaba operation is expected to recover this dent in the nation’s economy.