Ethiopian Airlines inaugurated its first flight to Amman, Jordan, on September 19. The flight operates three times a week using a Boeing B737MAX8 aircraft.
Flight ET 428 departs Addis Ababa at 22h00 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays and arrives in Amman at 02h05 the following day. Return flight ET 429 departs Amman at 03h05 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, and arrives in Addis Ababa at 06h44.
Amman is the 11th city in the Middle East serviced by Ethiopian, after Dubai, Beirut, Jeddah, Riyadh, Tel Aviv, Kuwait, Muscat, Bahrain, Dammam and Doha.
Jordan’s most famous tourism offering is the ancient Nabatean city of Petra, a complex of buildings and mausoleums dating back to the second century BCE. Known as the ‘Rose City’, it is carved out of the pink rock of the surrounding mountains in a hidden valley. The city is believed to have been an important trade hub on the ancient incense route. Petra is a Unesco World Heritage Site, described as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage". In 2019, Petra received 1,1m visitors.
The Wadi Rum riverbed cuts through the desert landscape, known for its sandstone mountains and richly coloured rock formations. It is thought to have been inhabited since prehistoric times, probably due to its perennial spring. The Nabateans left traces of their civilisation here too – there is a Nabatean Temple near the wadi. Engravings from even earlier inhabitants, about 800 years BCE, can be seen on the rockface.
The baptism site of Jesus Christ on the east bank of the River Jordan can also be visited.
The Dana Nature Reserve, covering about 320 sq km of wadis and mountains along the Great Rift Valley, has many hiking trails and is a unique biosphere.
Along its length, the Red Sea is well known for the beauty of its underwater world and the Gulf of Aqaba is one of the world's prime sites for diving. The area is especially rich in coral and other marine biodiversity – several shipwrecks provide habitat for marine organisms in the clear, pristine waters.
