Royal Jordanian CEO Dabbas quits

Hussein Dabbas, CEO of airline Royal Jordanian Amman - Arabstoday Hussein Dabbas, president and CEO of state-backed airline Royal Jordanian (RJ) has resigned, it was confirmed on Tuesday. “Hussein Dabbas submitted his resignation to the RJ's board of directors,” Petra, the official Jordanian news agency reported. “Dabbas told Petra that his resignation came out of his conviction that [the] time has come to implement 'new ideas' to develop the RJ,” it added. Dabbas joined Royal Jordanian three years ago and his resignation will take effect from June 1. According to Bloomberg news agency, Dabbas is leaving the job to take another unspecified role elsewhere. The news comes despite reports earlier this month that the carrier had transported more than 774,000 passengers in the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 26 percent on the 615,000 passengers carried in the same period of 2011. Dabbas said at the time the positive performance indicators came during the weakest part of the year in terms of demand for travel. RJ, a member of the British Airways-led Oneworld alliance, admitted this month that a merger with a larger carrier was inevitable as high fuel prices, competition from local rivals and a sluggish economy squeezed earnings. Dabbas said: “We are looking and reviewing options and talking to airlines to see when the time is right for us to do something. “With the pressure we are seeing from mega-carriers around the world, whether European or regional, to continue as we are is going to be a difficult game to follow.”