Before discussing what happened to Royal Jordanian's Boeing 727s, let's first look at the airline and see how it came to be. Royal Jordanian was founded on December 9, 1963, and began operations with two Handley Page Dart Heralds and a single Douglas DC-7.

The fledgling airline's first revenue flights commenced on December 16, 1963, flying between the Jordanian capital of Amman to Beirut, Cairo, and Kuwait City. A year later, another DC-7 joined the fleet, and the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah was added to its route map.

Royal Jordanian entered the jet age in 1968

In 1965 Royal Jordanian selected Rome, Italy, as its first destination in Europe. In the 1967 Six-Day War, an Israeli air raid destroyed the DC-7s, and Royal Jordanian replaced them with two Fokker F-27 Friendship aircraft.

Photo: Aero Icarus via Flickr.

In 1968 Royal Jordanian entered the jet age when it took delivery of a French-built Sud Aviation Caravelle. During the 1970s, the Middle Eastern airline expanded its route network, adding Boeing 707s 720, 727s, and 747s to its fleet.

The Boeing 727

The Boeing 727 was developed after a request from United Airlines, American Airlines, and Eastern Air Lines for a jet that could operate out of airports with shorter runways. American wanted a twin-engine plane for fuel savings, while Eastern needed an aircraft with at least three engines for its ETOPS Caribbean routes. Meanwhile, United wanted a plane with four engines that could fly from high-altitude airports like Denver.

Ultimately, a compromise was made, and all three airlines settled for a three-engine design. After some teething problems with the aircraft flap settings and pilots learning to fly the plane, it proved immensely popular at home and abroad. Not only was it able to operate out of small airports, it was ideal for places with few facilities. The aircraft had its own auxiliary power unit and fold-away rear stairs. This meant it did not need a ground power supply or movable stairs for passengers to get on and off the plane.

Royal Jordanian Boeing 727s

According to the aviation data and statistics website ATDB.aero Royal Jordanian operated seven Boeing 727 aircraft. The first three Boeing 727-200s, JY-ADR, JY-ADU, and JY-ADV, arrived in 1974.

JY-ADR

Royal Jordanian operated JY-ADR for 12 years and then sold it to Air Panama in 1986. The aircraft went to the Venezuelan airline Avivensa Servicios Avensa two years later. The aircraft has since been scrapped.

JY-ADU

While operating Royal Jordanian Flight 600, the plane crashed during a thunderstorm while trying to land at Doha International Airport (DIA) in Qatar. Of the 69 passengers and crew, 45 died in the accident.

JY-ADV

Royal Jordanian operated JY-ADV for ten years before selling it to Dominicana. The Dominican Republic airline flew the aircraft for two years, after which it went to numerous airlines worldwide. The last airline to operate the jet was Miami cargo carrier Amerijet International. Now registered as N804AJ, the plane is listed as being in storage.

JY-AFT

After a gap of six years, Royal Jordanian's next Boeing 727 JY-AFT arrived in early 1980. The aircraft served with the carrier for eight before being sold to Venezuelan airline Servivensa in 1988. The aircraft is now listed as scrapped.

JY-AFU

JY-AFU entered service with Royal Jordanian in January 1981 and flew for the airline for 15 before being sold to Servivensa in 1996. The aircraft was scrapped in 2007.

JY-AFV

Royal Jordanian took delivery of JY-AFV in January 1981 and used the plane for eight years. The aircraft ended up with Avensa and was scrapped in the spring of 2003.

JY-AWF

JY-AFW also joined the Royal Jordanian fleet in January 1981. On June 11, 1985, as Royal Jordanian Flight 402 was preparing to take off from Beirut, Lebanon, to return to Amman, the aircraft was hijacked by several armed men believed to be Shiite Muslims.

They demanded to be flown to Tunis, but because the aircraft was not carrying enough fuel, it landed in Larnaca, Cyprus. After taking on fuel, the plane headed for Tunis but was refused permission to land, forcing it to divert to Palermo in Scilly. After refueling once more, the aircraft returned to Beirut. All the passengers and crew were released before explosives destroyed the aircraft.

Sources :ATDB.aero