Royal Wings, a subsidiary of Royal Jordanian Airline, will start operating twice weekly scheduled flights between Aqaba and Cairo from April 21.

This new service, in cooperation with the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), is part of Royal Wings' effort to strengthen Aqaba's position on the commercial and international tourism map.

This is the second regular service operated by Royal Wings that departs from Aqaba; the company had launched a regular flight between Aqaba and Beirut.

The airline operates these two services following a cooperation agreement signed with ASEZA.

Royal Wings, which also operates charter flights, offers competitive ticket fares on the new route: one way (Aqaba/Cairo) ticket is JD85 ($119.4), while the roundtrip ticket price is JD129 ($181.3), including all applicable taxes.

This route is expected to revive tourism, a priority for ASEZA, which continuously seeks to attract tourists from all over the world to the sunny coastal city of Aqaba, which offers various entertaining activities including water sports, diving, adventure trips, and is close to points of attraction in the south of Jordan, including Petra and Wadi Rum.

Along with serving the tourists and merchants of the two countries, this flight will serve thousands of Egyptian workers in Aqaba.

It will also facilitate trips from Egypt to Jordan for those interested in religious tourism who desire to visit the Baptism site and other Christian sites in the kingdom.

The new Aqaba-Cairo-Aqaba flight departs on Fridays and Tuesdays from Aqaba at 18:10 and arrives in Cairo at 18:05; it takes off from Cairo at 18:50 and arrives in Aqaba at 21:00. - TradeArabia News Service