Full article in JPG format: page 20/21 & page 22
Few companies were worse affected by the Arab Spring that those in the region's tourism and travel sector. Although protests on the streets of Amman reached neither the scale nor the ferocity seen in neighbouring countries, Royal Jordanian Airlines plunged to a record annual loss of 57.9 million dinar ($82 million) in 2011. The alarming result prompted former chief executive Hussein Dabbas to call for downsizing and even a strategic merger.
The airline's subsequent move into the black in 2012 – albeit on a razor-thin margin of 0.14 per cent – raised expectations that it was emerging from the difficulties. But with civil war across the border in Syria now in its third year, the flag carrier is coming to terms with the uncomfortable reality that tourists could stay away for many years to come...
