Royal Jordanian Airlines, which ordered three Boeing 787s last year, expects to take delivery of its first Dreamliner in the first quarter of 2014, its chief executive said on Monday.
Hussein Dabbas also said high oil prices were taking a toll. Jordan's national carrier plans to have 11 787s in its fleet -- seven purchased outright and four leased -- by 2015.
Oil prices that have risen 40 percent from a year ago are raising airlines' costs and cutting into profits.
"The price of oil is already too high," Dabbas said at a conference in the Gulf Arab emirate. "Our budget is based on USD$85 a barrel and that's why we incurred a first-quarter loss," he said, but gave no figures.
Jordan sold 71 percent of Royal Jordanian to international and local investors in an initial public offering at the end of 2007, making it the first Arab state carrier to be privatized.
