Qatar and Jordan have agreed to removed restrictions imposed on passenger and cargo flights operated between the two countries as part of efforts to boost bilateral air transport.

The civil aviation authorities of the two nations have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will allow airlines to operate on any number of flights using any aircraft.

The signing was chaired by president of Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA), Mohamed Faleh Alhajri, and chief commissioner of Jordan’s Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission (CARC) Haitham Misto. The move follows talks in March.

A statement from Doha’s state news agency QNA said: “The results of the agreement will be positively reflected on the overall economic and investment activity and trade exchange.”

Jordan’s state news agency Petra added that the decision was “in line with gradual liberalization policy of air transport adopted by the Jordanian government.”

According to data provided by OAG Schedules Analyser, Qatar Airways and Royal Jordanian each serve Doha (DOH)-Amman (AMM) three times per day. For the week commencing Aug. 8, Qatar Airways is offering 12,862 two-way seats between the destinations, while Royal Jordanian has 7,759 available seats.

The MoU to liberalize air transport between Qatar and Jordan comes as part of efforts to strengthen economic ties. Petra reported that trade between the two countries reached $41 million during the first three months of 2022, up from $31 million during the same period last year. The goods that Qatar imports from Jordan include fruit and vegetables.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s private sector exports to Jordan in 2021 amounted to $45.3 million, a 20.6% increase compared with 2020.

Sabre Market Intelligence figures show that O&D traffic between Qatar and Jordan totaled 87,500 two-way passengers in 2021, compared with 212,000 in 2019 before the pandemic. Preliminary data for the first half of 2022 reveals that two-way traffic amounted to about 53,000 passengers.