National carrier Royal Jordanian said a new Airbus A321 plane has joined its fleet in line with its plan to serve the medium-haul routes of the RJ network.

The new A321 aircraft, the third to be introduced this year, carries the name of the city of Madaba, southwest of the capital Amman.

This comes as part of the modernization plan that Royal Jordanian is undertaking to replace six of its A320s and A321s with seven new ones of the same type.

During the last two years, the airline has already introduced four A320 and two A321 aircraft, whereas the last aircraft will join the fleet this November. With this move, the airline will conclude the plan for medium-range fleet modernization.

On the fleet boost, Royal Jordanian CEO Abdelrahman El-Khatib said the replacement aims at upgrading the level of onboard services and maintaining a modern fleet. In addition to superb services, the airline saves time and money by having a young fleet.

"These new airliners were introduced at this stage to meet the growing demand on travel aboard Royal Jordanian, particularly that a large number of RJ passengers tend to spend their summer vacations in some closeby countries," El-Khatib stated.

According to him, RJ has witnessed a remarkable increase in the number of passengers since the beginning of this year.
 
"Royal Jordanian is now preparing for the introduction of 11 Boeing 787s that will be run on the long-haul network. The first batch is expected by 2014; the planes will gradually join the fleet until 2017, to replace the currently operating A330s and A340s," he added.

The RJ fleet now numbers 32 aircraft, reaching 60 direct destinations and more than 850 airports through its oneworld partners.-TradeArabia News Service