New schedule for Beirut-Aqaba charter flights launched

AMMAN — A new schedule for charter flights between Aqaba and Beirut was launched this week, including two trips every week, an official said Thursday.

Nasser Shraideh, the chief commissioner of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), said the new schedule seeks to encourage visits from Lebanon to Aqaba, Wadi Rum and Petra, highlighting the move as part of the mission to establish regular flights with countries in the region and worldwide.

With the closure of borders between Lebanon and Syria, visitors from Lebanon now have an easier option to visit Jordan and enjoy the “tourist attractions and cultural diversity” in the southern region of the Kingdom, as well as the moderate weather at this time of the year, said the official.

This also enables Jordanians, especially residents of the south, to visit Lebanon for cheaper prices, Shraideh said, adding that Royal Wings (RW) is the charter carrier for the non-regular flights every Monday and Friday, starting earlier this week on Monday.

“We have very good indicators so far, and we are expecting the number of visitors to increase during the holiday season,” he told The Jordan Times in a phone interview.

Shraideh said direct charter flights to Brussels started on Tuesday, bringing to Jordan a “decent” number of visitors. 

It takes people some time to get used to these flights and start using them, he explained.

Furthermore, he said direct flights from Aqaba to Cairo will start early next year, and to Scandinavian countries in February 2017 in partnership with RW and Royal Jordanian, adding that other destinations in the region and Europe are under study.

Over 20,000 tourists from Russia have visited Aqaba on charter flights since the beginning of this year.