Jordan Aviation could launch US flights with a former Emirates plane

Here's a fun bit of aviation geekery for a Saturday afternoon: As One Mile at a Time reports, a small Jordanian carrier, Jordan Aviation — not to be confused with Oneworld member Royal Jordanian — has filed for a foreign air carrier permit with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

It's a bit too early in the process for this to generate any real excitement, but one element, in particular, has me intrigued.

Jordan Aviation has a very small fleet, and few aircraft capable of flying nonstop between Amman (AMM) and the United States. The plane most likely to make the trip, however, is an Airbus A330-300 that once flew for Emirates, and even sports the old Emirates interior — including the airline's former first class.

This particular plane, with registration JY-JVA, offers 12 first-class seats, 42 in business class and 183 in economy, and flew for Emirates for about five years before making its way to Jordan Aviation in early 2016.

Granted, an A330 with a nearly 20-year-old interior might not appeal to the majority of long-haul travelers, but it would certainly be of interest to aviation geeks looking to fly on an exceptionally rare plane.

It's unclear where exactly Jordan Aviation intends to fly, though it's worth noting that its Oneworld member counterpart, Royal Jordanian, generally offers service to Chicago (ORD), Detroit (DTW) and New York-JFK.

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With a far inferior onboard product, Jordan Aviation would need to serve a different city, or offer far lower fares than its far more established competitor in order to appeal to travelers — especially considering that Royal Jordanian often flies state-of-the-art 787 Dreamliners to the United States.