Europe’s biggest low-cost carrier, Ryanair, will launch its first flights to Jordan with 14 routes in total to Amman and Aqaba airports in March. The new routes are expected to deliver almost 500,000 customers as Ryanair expands its operation in the Middle East and create 340 new jobs, said Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer David O’Brien.

The first route will take off from Paphos, Cyprus to Amman, followed by nine other routes to Queen Alia International Airport, and four other routes will fly into King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba, said Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Lina Annab in a press conference.

The launch of the new routes will be accompanied by several marketing campaigns targeting specific types of tourists such as religious, adventure, and business travelers based in the new source markets in Europe, she said.

“We are now able to make the Kingdom more accessible to a broader segment of potential tourists whose impact on the local community will be substantial on every level of the tourism sector supply-chain,” she said.

Ryanair’s Amman operation will grow to 10 routes and flights to the port city of Aqaba will commence in October, and will also operate for the winter period.

Ryanair will fly to Amman from Bologna, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Krakow, Milan, Paphos, Prague, Vilinius and Warsaw, with flights to Aqaba going from Athens, Cologne, Rome and Sofia.