The Details

• Flight: RJ650
• Aircraft: B787-8
• Class: Crown Class (Business)
• Seat: 3A
• Route: Amman Queen Alia International (AMM)-Doha Hamad International (DOH)
• Distance: 1,165miles
• Duration: 2hr 25min
• Departure: 2:47AM
• Arrival: 5:54AM

The Preflight

After arriving on my flight from Madrid I had a few more hours until my flight to Doha. By this time, I was incredibly tired and decided to relax in the flagship Royal Jordanian Crown Lounge.

While there was a separate dedicated smoking room; the entire lounge reeked of cigarette smoke.

There was a open buffet and open bar with soft drinks. The food offerings had an Arabic flair with various hold and cold choices.

After a quick nap and a bite in the lounge I made my way to the gate with twenty minutes to boarding. Our B787-8, registration JY-BAE, was already at the gate. She was delivered in October 2014 and named after Prince Hashemite Bin Abdullah.

The Flight

Upon boarding, I was greeted by a friendly flight attendant who directed me to my seat. Royal Jordanian features 24 business class seats in a 2-2-2 configuration in a single cabin between the first and second doors. These seats are Parallel Diamond seats which are also aboard KLM 747-400s and Ethiopian Airlines A350-900s.

The cabin felt new and stylish with the Crown branding.

The cabin was extremely empty on this flight with about only half a dozen passengers in business class.

As with all Parallel Diamond seats, I felt the foot well was tight and restrictive. Luckily I had both seats in my row to myself.

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The IFE screen was very crisp and responsive.

Each seat featured a 110V outlet, USB port, and a three-prong audio jack. The seat controls were in the armrest between the seats and the IFE remote was below the seat controls.

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A pillow, thick blanket, and headphones were also provided for each passenger. No amenity kits were given. The headphones were identical to the ones given to me on my previous Royal Jordanian A319 flight from MAD-AMM.

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As with my prior flight from Madrid to Amman with RJ, the flight attendants were superb. Upon taking my seat, I was offered a fresh cup of Arabic Coffee from a Dallah.

Boarding was extremely quick and was finished in about 10 minutes. Push back and taxi was quick and we had a very smooth take-off in the early morning towards Doha.

Breakfast was served immediately after takeoff. There was only one option which was a delicious Arabic mezze breakfast. The fried cheese was both crispy on the corner and gooey on the inside. I had all three options for bread including a croissant, white roll, and pita.

The seat had ample padding and was very comfortable in lie flat mode. I managed to nap for about 30 minutes despite how short the flight was. Each seat also had individual air vents.

I awoke to the flight attendants preparing the cabin for arrival.

Not before long we were over the Persian Gulf and I had a beautiful sunrise view.

We landed promptly in Doha and deplaned at a remote stand. A Qatar Airways branded bus designed for business class passengers was waiting for us.

This flight was such a treat given that I flew a widebody B787-8 Dreamliner on a short two hour and 30 minutes flight. I appreciated the various Arabic touches such as boarding coffee and the mezze plate for breakfast. Coupled with extremely friendly flight attendants, I would say Royal Jordanian offers a great business class product between Jordan and Qatar.