Facing continued conflict in the region and questions over safety and demand, United Airlines is suspending its capital-to-capital service between Washington Dulles and Amman, Jordan.
United Airlines Suspends Amman Service
In 2022, United Airlines launched nonstop service between Washington Dulles (IAD) and Amman, Jordan (AMM) as part of its ambitious post-pandemic rebound. Just two years later, war rages in neighboring Israel, demand has depressed, safety concerns persist, and United has pulled the plug on its AMM service.
A memo reviewed by Live And Let’s Fly suggests the move is temporary, yet also that United is not in a position to operate it until further notice and thus fully removed it from its schedule.
Our flights to AMM remain suspended and have been fully removed from our schedule until further notice.
We look forward to resuming flights as soon as it’s safe for our customers and crew.
For customers who have already booked travel to AMM, we are offering refunds to their original form of purchase, the option to rebook to an approved alternate city or on Lufthansa Group-operated flights, or a chance to obtain a travel credit that does not expire for five years.
Note that last paragraph. If you do have upcoming travel booked to Amman on United, you will be offered either a refund (which I would always take over a travel credit) or a rebooking on a Lufthansa, which continues to operate service between Frankfurt (FRA) and AMM.
I have a soft spot in my heart for the Hashemite Kingdom and have enjoyed many trips there over the years. The guides I talk to are hurting there…Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has dashed tourism industry in Jordan.
Service has already been suspended to Jordan during the war, but removing the flight altogether from the schedule suggests that it will be an even greater uphill battle for this route to be restored. The flight last operated on July 29, 2024.
You can read my full trip report for my last trip to Jordan (and beyond) here.
> Read More: A Middle East Adventure Many Times Over Trip Report
Even with everything going on in the region, IAD-AMM still had highest load factor of any UA TATL route this past winter. It’s my understanding that the load factor remained high into the Summer. Folks needing to get to Israel frequently used the flight and then entered via the Jordan River Crossing.
I don’t see this as a demand issue, so I guess United feels there is a legitimate security concern regarding the service.
I wonder if it is a union issue? I agree that the loads were high, fares seemed high, and this route was a big value for United and many in both Washington, DC and Jordan. I do hope it returns. Seems strange to totally remove it from the schedule.
I took this flight MANY times, and I know tons of people who go back-and-forth. This flight is always full. As you all know, despite all the regional turmoil, Jordan remains safe. There is more to this than safety and demand.
For some reason I thought RJ used to fly AMM-IAD…? but I don’t see them anywhere now.
Seems like they’d be a good airline to operate the route since AA could sell government tickets on the OW codeshare with their DC-based loyalty group.
Not sure if they ever flew to IAD? They do currently fly to JFK, ORD, and DTW in the US.
Been in the DC area for 20 years, RJ never flew direct from IAD to AMM. I wish RJ would seize on this opportunity. That UA flight rarely had empty seats. Enough government delegations, armed forces personnel, jordanians, and arabs shuttle back and forth.