RJ’s 2021 financial statement endorsed

AMMAN — Royal Jordanian (RJ) on Monday held its ordinary General Assembly meeting virtually to discuss the board’s report on the 2021 financial results and the business prospects for 2022, as well as the auditors’ report, the budget, profits and losses. 

The General Assembly members agreed to all the articles under discussion, according to a RJ statement.

The meeting was headed by RJ Board of Directors Chairman Said Darwazeh; attending the virtual meeting were also board members, RJ Vice Chairman/CEO Samer Majali, Companies’ General Controller Deputy Luma Quteishat, representatives of the Government Investments Management Company and of the Social Security Corporation, RJ accounts auditor Ernst and Young and some shareholders. 

Addressing the shareholders, Darwazeh said that RJ, the national carrier, is one of “the cornerstones of the national economy, and the backbone of the local air transportation sector”. 

He expressed appreciation for the Royal support that RJ receives as well as for the support of the government, which empowers the company. He also thanked the shareholders for their “understanding of the nature and extent of challenges that the company has been facing in the past year”. 

Darwazeh said that the airline’s performance was relatively good in 2021, despite the great challenges it faced due to the COVID pandemic and its immense impact on the air transport industry. The pandemic imposed major restrictions on travel, affected the load factors and ticket fares, and, ultimately, the financial results.

In 2021, the company was able to reduce net losses after tax to JD74.3 million, 54 per cent less than the JD161.1 million loss in 2020, which is a positive transformation in the company’s journey, Darwazeh said. 

He added that RJ reduced all operational expenditures and reviewed its contracts with services providers in Jordan and at outstations, reviewed aircraft lease contracts, and applied defence orders and protection programmes provided by the Social Security Corporation regarding employees’ salaries. 

CEO Samer Majali said that RJ will exert great efforts and continue to play its strategic role in serving Jordan. 

He praised the recent visit of His Majesty King Abdullah to RJ. His Majesty expressed his belief in the company’s ability to overcome current challenges and turn them into opportunities since the airline is a major driver of growth for the national economy, especially for the tourism, transportation and air freight sectors.

He said that the company has taken several corrective measures and will restructure in different areas. It is implementing a plan based on the following pillars: Reducing operational costs, revisiting the route network, modernising the fleet, and improving the services offered to passengers. The vision is to make RJ a leading carrier in the Levant, project Jordan around the world and encourage tourism to the country.

Majali said that the total revenues generated by RJ in 2021 are a positive indicator. They went up from JD213 million in 2020 to JD357 million in 2021,  a 68 per cent growth. This figure is reason for the company to be optimistic, as it proves that RJ has the potential to attain remarkable achievements by utilising sales promos and offers that are sure to boost the company’s ancillary revenues. 

RJ aircraft carried JD1.6 million passengers in 2021, compared to 752, 000 carried in the year before. 

Majali added that RJ is constantly reviewing its route network based on economic feasibility studies and in accordance with the company’s objective of providing the best service to its customers. 

RJ is committed to resuming its operations to destinations to which it suspended flights and to adjusting its frequencies to the currently serviced stations. 

The company will also fly to new destinations in promising markets, as it intends to raise the number of served stations from 35 to 60 during the next five years. The company is also planning to renew its fleet of aircraft to serve short- and medium-haul flights, and to perform more profitably in the cargo sector and passenger aircraft. 

Majali stressed that Royal Jordanian continues to strive to enhance Jordan’s position on the global tourism map and to promote it as a tourist destination in collaboration with concerned authorities, through sales promos and integrated services provided to tourists from all over the world.