Trip Report: Royal Jordanian (B787-8) Crown (Business) AMM-DOH

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.

Parallel Diamond seat

The cabin felt new and stylish with the Crown branding.

Crown Branding

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

Business Cabin

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.

The IFE screen was very crisp and responsive.

IFE Screen

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.

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.

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.

Arabic Coffee

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.

Arabic Breakfast

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.

Lie-flat

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

IFE Map

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

Sunrise

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.

Deplane via Stairs

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.

Trip Report: Royal Jordanian (A319) Crown (Business) MAD-AMM

The Details

  • Flight: RJ110
  • Aircraft: A319
  • Class: Crown (Business)
  • Seat: 4A
  • Route: Madrid-Barajas (MAD)-Amman Queen Alia International (AMM)
  • Distance: 2,272 miles
  • Duration: 4hr 49min
  • Departure: 4:34PM
  • Arrival: 10:00PM

The Preflight

With a few hours to spare in MAD after arriving from my previous flight from Chicago, I decided to spend the majority of my time in the Iberia Business Lounge.

Breakfast was served during my time there.

There was a dedicated bar area featuring many different types of self-served alcoholic beverages.

There were also excellent views of the apron, runway, and gates.

Iberia A330
Iberia Retro A319

I managed to spot the plane I was going to take to Amman as it arrived. It was the “Oneworld” livery A319 registration JY-AYP. She was delivered to Royal Jordanian back in March 2009.

Royal Joradnian Oneworld A319

The Flight

Royal Jordanian seats 14 passengers it the Crown class cabin. Each seat featured a generous 46 inches of pitch and 21 inches of width. These were by far the most comfortable narrow-body business class seats I’ve flown in. They reminded me of la-z-boy recliners.

Each seat featured a personal reading light and foot rest. There was a comfortable pillow provided as well. The IFE screen flipped out from the armrest between the seats and was fairly dated.

While not lie-flat, the seat had thick padding which made it very comfortable. The cabin was kept at a cool temperature which made napping extremely easy.

I was lucky enough to have an entire row to myself. The cabin was about half-full and there were two Royal Jordanian crew members in row across from me.

A small amenity kit was provided on this short five hour flight. It was fairly basic and included socks, eye mask, and toothbrush.

A pair of Royal Jordanian headphones were also provided. These were the same pair of headphones provided on my later flight from Amman to Doha.

Upon boarding I was greeted by the friendly flight attendant. She read my boarding pass and welcomed me abroad by my last name. Moments after taking my seat, I was given a warm cup of delicious Arabic coffee.

Immediately after the Arabic coffee service, the flight attendant came around with Tattinger champagne and a warm towel.

Menus were handed out and I had a second glass of champagne.

30 minutes after takeoff toated mixed nuts were served.

The appetizer arrived beautifully presented. The shrimp was fresh and seasoned with just the right amount of dill. The dish was served with a dry-cured beef that was phenomenal.

For my main dish I had the lamb madras. The lamb was fork-tender and the curry sauce an explosion of flavor at 32,000 feet. I paired the lamb with a Jordanian shiraz.

I managed to dose off for two hours after the meal service and awoke to the flight attendants prepping the cabin for landing.

We landed in Amman in the middle of the night and I sleepily made my way to the Royal Jordanian Crown Lounge to wait a few more hours until my next flight to Doha.