Author name: Aviation World

In an exclusive interview with Vishal Kashyap, Managing Editor of Aviation World, Karim Makhlouf, Chief Commercial Officer(CCO), Royal Jordanian Airlines, outlines the carrier’s forward-looking commercial strategy. From aggressive fleet expansion and modernization to steering the airline back into profitability despite complex geopolitical headwinds, Karim Makhlouf breaks down the definitive factors driving Jordan’s national carrier into a new era. Excerpts: AW:  For Aviation sector Q2 2026 is highly challenging. What strategies did you adapted to keep your airlines flying and maintain operational performance intact in line with the previous quarter? KM : Throughout the recent geopolitical challenges, Royal Jordanian remained one of the very few airlines in the region to operate consistently. Through close coordination with the Jordanian Government and the Armed Forces, we secured dedicated flight corridors that enabled us to maintain safe and reliable operations while prioritising the safety of our passengers and crew. Our ability to maintain uninterrupted services during this period strengthened passenger confidence in the airline and reinforced our reputation as a reliable carrier. Despite the challenging operating environment, our commercial performance remained in line with our budget expectations, reflecting the resilience of our business and the dedication of our teams. AW:  How do you assess the regional uncertainty and confusion impacting the airlines operational efficiency in future? KM :We believe the most challenging period is now behind us, and the outlook for the months ahead is encouraging. Booking trends for the summer season and beyond continue to show positive momentum, with stable demand across our network. While we remain mindful of the evolving regional environment, we are optimistic about the future. Supported by resilient demand, a flexible operating model, and our continued focus on delivering a reliable travel experience, we are confident in our ability to sustain recovery and drive long-term growth. AW:   What are the new routes that Royal Jordanian has launched in the recent times? What are the plans for year ahead? KM :Over the past four years, Royal Jordanian has significantly expanded its network by launching 28 new destinations, including Vienna, Dallas, Tashkent, Alexandria and Trabzon, further strengthening connectivity across Europe, North America, Central Asia and the Middle East. Looking ahead, we will continue to pursue a disciplined and selective network expansion strategy, focusing on markets that offer strong commercial potential and support inbound tourism to Jordan. At the same time, we remain committed to strengthening our position as the leading carrier in the Levant by enhancing connectivity through our Amman hub and creating greater travel opportunities for both leisure and business travellers. AW:   Royal Jordanian achieved JOD 21.5 million net profit in 2025. What are the factors that led to such rewarding results? KM :Our strong financial performance in 2025 reflects the successful execution of a long-term transformation strategy focused on building a more agile, efficient and customer-centric airline. Key drivers of this turnaround included restructuring the business, improving aircraft utilisation and increasing seat load factors across our network. At the same time, we placed tourism at the heart of our commercial strategy while reinforcing Royal Jordanian’s position as the leading network carrier in the Levant. By combining operational efficiency. ( The interview is also published at Aviation World July-August 2026 print edition) 

NINE PLANETS | TWELVE HOUSES | ONE SKY In the winter of the pandemic, when the world’s fleets stood grounded and the industry’s forecasts read like obituaries, one voice in these very pages called the turnaround — exactly to the month. As Farnborough 2026 gathers under the banner of Sustainability and AI, Aviation World returns to the Grandmaster. 1: THE PREDICTION THAT LANDED Every publication keeps a private ledger of the things it printed that came true. Ours has an entry that still draws a quiet smile in the newsroom. At the height of the COVID crisis — when aircraft were parked nose-to-tail in desert boneyards and the most sophisticated forecasting models of the industry could not agree on a recovery year, let alone a quarter — Aviation World sat down with an unusual interviewee: Guruji Shrii Arnav, the Forbes-recognized “Mentor of Mentors,” Father of Astro Gemology, and mentor of Gemstoneuniverse, the world’s leading authority on planetary Gemology. Asked for his observations on the sector, he did not hedge. The turnaround, he told our readers, would begin in December 2022 or January 2023 — and the resurgence would be led by Asia. That is precisely what happened. Asia-Pacific reopened, traffic surged, and the recovery unfolded on the timeline he named — a timeline he gave without a terminal of data, without a consultancy behind him, in an era when optimism itself seemed irresponsible. He also welcomed, in the same conversation, the Maharaja’s return home — the Air India story that would go on to anchor the largest aircraft orders in the history of Indian aviation. Readers of this magazine have seen the association deepen since. Our July–August 2023 edition — the cover carrying the Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s meeting with Boeing’s chief executive in Washington, above “The Big Aviation Deal of India” — carried the Gemstoneuniverse marque on that same front page. The Grandmaster’s world and the world of aviation have been travelling companions in these pages for years. II: FROM CERN TO LE BOURGET TO FARNBOROUGH The road to this Farnborough feature runs through some unexpected coordinates. In 2025, at a live AMA with research fellowship scientists at CERN — beneath the shadow of the Nataraja that stands on that campus — a young physicist asked him directly: “Guruji, do you need Artificial Intelligence?” His answer has since travelled far: “No. But the world needs Real Intelligence.” He followed it with a definition that he offered, characteristically, as a humble suggestion to the dictionaries: Intelligence is knowledge acquisition and its application, keeping in view its implications, while understanding the true ramification. From CERN he carried that definition to the AI Conference at the 55th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, where leaders of aviation, aerospace, and defence converged — and where he framed the AI revolution in a single image the industry has not forgotten: a cosmic tandava — creation and destruction in one dance — “and we must dance wisely.” He has not merely philosophized. In August 2025, at dawn in Bangkok, he consecrated and activated the Gemstone Universe GPT on the OpenAI platform — among the first spiritual knowledge systems in the world to be formally embodied in AI, trained exclusively on his verified works, and launched, in his words, because “technology without dharma is like a gemstone without light — lifeless.” The innovation earned him recognition including the prestigious Nelson Mandela Award for AI innovation in Astro Gemology. The arc is worth stating plainly, because no one else in the world owns it: in 2023 he published the industry’s most unfashionable caution against AI herd-mentality; in 2025 he stood at CERN and Le Bourget defining what intelligence must mean; by that August he had built on the very platforms he had warned about — on his terms, with dharma as the operating system. Sceptic, definer, builder. Three acts, all on the public record. And as this edition goes to print, July 2026 finds him engaged in rare private dialogue at the very frontier of technology — of which the world will hear in due time. III. THE MAN Author of The Secrets of Jyotish Gems — the magnum opus of Astro Gemology, published in six languages and released by His Excellency the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee — Guruji Shrii Arnav has been the astrology columnist of Deccan Herald since 2007, a span approaching two decades of unbroken weekly counsel to one of India’s great newspapers. He is accredited by the Gemological Institute of America, associated with the Planetary Gemologists Association of Thailand, and is the architect of Jyotish Gemstones Therapy (JGT™), the proprietary 69-step protocol that standardized a field once ruled by guesswork. His counsel travels in circles that rarely intersect: statesmen and admirals, founders and flag officers, engineers and mystics, across more than fifty countries and three decades of practice. In 2023, the Inspiring India volume placed him among thirty-one personalities defining the nation’s spirit; in 2025, his essay on leadership and destiny appeared in the Businessworld group’s wellbeing edition. And through all of it runs his signature proprietary framework — ️9:12 The Guruji Shrii Arnav Way: Speed. Timing. Efficiency. — where nine is wisdom and twelve is applied cosmic motion. Later this year he extends that framework into publishing once more, with a new digital work distilling three decades of counsel into the nine mistakes that quietly decide human destinies — a book already awaited by a global readership. THE QUESTION Farnborough 2026 convenes under a theme the Grandmaster seems to have been walking toward for years: Sustainability and AI in Aviation. The industry that carries humanity across the sky is asking what kind of intelligence should sit beside the pilot, and what kind of conscience should sit beside the engineer. Those who have followed the Grandmaster’s writings know he rarely explains how he arrives where he arrives. When pressed, he offers only what he calls an old jungle saying: “When you reach a dead end, do not despair —

A Conversation with the Leadership Behind AirFleet Managers & Aviatrics Global As the global aviation industry navigates accelerated fleet transitions, lease restructurings, evolving regulatory requirements, and the rapid adoption of digital technologies, aircraft owners, lessors, airlines, and investors are placing greater emphasis on technical expertise, operational transparency, and efficient asset management. In this dynamic environment, the ability to combine engineering excellence with digital innovation has become a key differentiator. In this exclusive conversation with Aviation World Magazine, Pallavi Joshi and Vimal Priya share their insights on the industry’s evolving landscape and discuss how AirFleet Managers and Aviatrics Global are helping shape the future of aviation asset management. From aircraft deliveries and lease transitions to technical consulting, digital asset management, and proprietary software platforms, they explain how their organisations are enabling clients worldwide to protect asset value, improve operational efficiency, and navigate the complexities of modern aviation with confidence.  Strategic Vision & Digital Innovation Interview with Pallavi Joshi, CEO & Co-Founder Aviation World: What has been the guiding philosophy behind your growth, and what core values shape your reputation? Pallavi Joshi: From the beginning, our philosophy has been simple – build trust through technical excellence, integrity, and consistency. Every aircraft transition or technical inspection has significant financial implications, so our role is to provide independent, reliable solutions that clients can confidently rely on. We focus on long-term partnerships rather than just growth, approaching every assignment with strict attention to detail. Aviation World: Preserving asset value is a constant pressure for lessors. Where do they need the strongest support in today’s market? Pallavi Joshi: Lessors need complete technical visibility across the entire lease lifecycle – from delivery and in-service operations to redelivery and onward placement. One of the biggest challenges is maintaining accurate, complete, and audit-ready technical records. Missing documentation or unresolved compliance issues drastically impact an aircraft’s marketability and residual value. Identifying these issues early allows lessors to avoid costly surprises during compressed transition schedules. Aviation World: You have invested heavily in combining engineering with proprietary technology. How does this digital suite change the workflow for your clients? Pallavi Joshi: Aviation is increasingly data-driven, and clients want information that is accessible, organized, secure, and actionable. Technology doesn’t replace engineering experience; it strengthens it.  AFM Vault & WingsVault provide secure digital records management.  AFM DARTS simplifies collaborative discrepancy tracking during deliveries. AFM Track offers real-time visibility into airworthiness and transitions. SmartAviaHub unifies critical operational intelligence into a single dashboard to drive faster, better-informed decision-making. Aviation World: Looking ahead over the next few years, what is your ultimate ambition for the global reach of the company? Pallavi Joshi: Our ambition is straightforward – we want to be the partner clients think of first when they need dependable aviation asset management globally. We are actively expanding internationally, investing in digital capabilities, and strengthening our technical teams to stay ahead of rapid industry shifts. Our core goal remains to build partnerships that last for years, or even decades, by consistently delivering with absolute integrity. Engineering Precision & Commercial Execution Interview with Vimal Priya, Co-Founder & Technical Director Aviation World: From an engineering standpoint, what differentiates your technical team’s approach from other service providers? Vimal Priya: Experience certainly matters, but consistency matters even more. Every aircraft, operator, and lease agreement has its own specific requirements. Our engineers understand that technical management isn’t just about blindly following a checklist – it’s about understanding the commercial impact behind every technical decision. Our vast operational history helps us anticipate bottlenecks long before they turn into expensive problems for our clients. Aviation World: Your team has achieved several major technical milestones. Which accomplishments best represent your capabilities? Vimal Priya: We have successfully supported over 260 aircraft deliveries and redeliveries while executing complex lease transitions across multiple regions. Furthermore, AirFleet Managers became one of the first independent organizations in India to receive DGCA CAR-145 approval for borescope inspections. We have also become one of the region’s leading specialists in technical records digitization, helping operators transform legacy paper archives into secure, searchable digital assets with over 17 billion records digitized. Aviation World: Aviatrics Global has grown rapidly in less than two years. How does its commercial and logistical focus complement the technical depth of AirFleet Managers? Vimal Priya: We realized clients were constantly juggling multiple vendors for aircraft trading, component sourcing, logistics, and fleet remarketing. We created Aviatrics Global to deliver those commercial capabilities under a single umbrella. The synergy has been highly successful: in less than three years, we have facilitated the movement of over 12,000 aircraft components globally, managed the transportation of over 60 engine and APU stands, and supported the import/export of over 35 engines and 25 aircraft. Aviation World: What final takeaway message would you like to leave with aircraft owners, lessors, and financiers? Vimal Priya: Aircraft are long-term investments, and safeguarding them requires a partner who deeply understands both engineering precision and commercial realities. Whether we are managing a complex lease transition, conducting maintenance audits, or sourcing assets globally, our objective is always to maximize performance while reducing operational risk. Trust isn’t built through slick presentations; it is built by being transparent, highly responsive, and consistently delivering quality when it matters most. About AirFleet Managers AirFleet Managers is a global aviation technical consultancy delivering end-to-end solutions across the aircraft asset lifecycle. Its expertise spans aircraft asset management, lease transitions, aircraft deliveries and redeliveries, technical due diligence, CAMO support, maintenance audits, engine and APU management, aircraft records management and digitisation, ferry services, and aircraft sale and purchase support. Complementing its engineering capabilities is a comprehensive suite of proprietary aviation software platforms designed to digitalise technical asset management and improve operational efficiency. AFM DARTS streamlines aircraft records management and technical documentation, enabling faster reviews, improved compliance, and audit readiness. AFM Vault and WingsVault provide secure, cloud-based repositories for aircraft records and asset documentation, ensuring accessibility, traceability, and data integrity throughout the asset lifecycle. AFM Track offers real-time visibility into aircraft deliveries, lease transitions, maintenance events, and technical projects,