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Ali Ghandour

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Ali Ghandour
Born(1931-05-28)28 May 1931
Beirut,French Lebanon
Died29 August 2020(2020-08-29)(aged 89)
Beirut,Lebanon
NationalityLebanese-Jordanian

Ali Ghandour(Arabic:علي غندور;28 May 1931 – 29 August 2020) was a Lebanese-Jordanianbusinessman,the president of ARAM Trading and Technology. He was a native ofLebanonand aJordaniancitizen. Ghandour died on 29 August 29 2020.[1]

Education and early life

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Ghandour was born on 28 May 1931,[2]inBeirut,Lebanonwhere he spent most of his youth, he was admitted toIC,a private co-educational preparatory school to theAmerican University of Beirutwhich he graduated from later with Aerospace engineering degree. He also went for further education atNew York University-United States. Gandour went back to Lebanon in 1954 and joined theLebanese Civil Aviation Authorityas an engineer and Head of aviation Safety.

Ghandour's political tendencies led him to join theSyrian Social Nationalist Party(SSNP) whose members were chased after by the Lebanese government due to a failed coup which the party attempted in 1961. Despite the fact that Ghandour was in Paris on a training course during the coup, he was wanted by the Lebanese government and considered a fugitive. Thus, Gandour tookrefugeatParisthenCôte d'Ivoirewhich he left later toKuwait.

Ghandour's refuge in Kuwait was accepted by the Kuwaiti authorities as long as no conviction was issued by the Lebanese government for his arrest. Ghandour remained and worked for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in Kuwait not long before a death sentencein absentiawas issued by Lebanon which forced him to leave immediately toJordan.[3]

Jordan

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Ghandour and colleagues from the (SSNP) went to meet up withKing Husseinto thank him for Jordan's acceptance of refuge. The meeting was Ghandour's life turning point when King Hussein asked him about his future plans to which Ghandour's intentions were to travel back toWest Africa.King Hussein did not recommend Ghandour's plans, instead he offered him to remain in Jordan in order to establish a new national airline to which Ghandour accepted.

Gandour presented theFeasibility studyto King Hussein which he liked and gave orders to commence the project backed up by aRoyal decreein 1963. A week later, a DCC plane was leased fromLebanese International Airwaysand was scheduled to fly toJerusalemand Beirut. Two moreDart HeraldsofRoyal Jordanian Air Forcewere provided by King Hussein to convert into civilian planes for usage in the newly established airline.

Gandour's recommendation to name the new airlineRoyal Jordanianwas approved by King Hussein, the name was also extended to ALIA after the king's eldest daughterPrincess Alia.(It is a common misconception that the airline was named after the King's third wife,Queen Alia.)

A devoted supporter of theAmerican University of Beirut,Ghandour served as trustee (1979–2008) and was named trustee emeritus in 2008.[1]

Career and positions held

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Awards and decorations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^abc"AUB mourns the loss of Trustee Emeritus Ali Ghandour".American University of Beirut.
  2. ^Publitec Publications (2011).Who's Who in the Arab World 2007-2008.Walter de Gruyter. p. 328.ISBN9783110930047.
  3. ^"من محكوم بالإعدام إلى رئيس للخطوط الجوية الملكية الأردنية, تحقيقات".Archived fromthe originalon 2011-05-01.Retrieved2012-01-14.
  4. ^"Reply to a parliamentary question about the Decoration of Honour"(PDF)(in German). p. 588.Retrieved29 November2012.
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