Review of Royal Jordanian flight Amman Tel Aviv in Business

Airline Royal Jordanian
Flight RJ344
Class Business
Seat --
Aircraft Embraer E-175
Flight time 00:20
Take-off 09 Jan 14, 11:30
Arrival at 09 Jan 14, 11:50
RJ   #18 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 60 reviews
pertristis
By 2853
Published on 28th April 2016
Welcome to the next Flight-Report installment of a trip I took now two Januarys ago. Apparently I decided to take two years off between reports. This report will cover a Royal Jordanian flight from Amman to Tel Aviv. Eventually, my Flight-Reports will cover:

DL 1625; BWI-ATL; F Class; 5/1/2014
DL 5324; ATL-YUL; F Class; 5/1/2014
AF 346; YUL-CDG; J Class; 5/1/2014
AF 3886; CDG-AMM; J Class; 6/1/2014
RJ 344; AMM-TLV; J Class; 9/1/2014 (Current Report)

AZ 809; TLV-FCO; J Class; 17/1/2014
AZ 610; FCO-JFK; J Class; 17/1/2014
DL 2914; JFK-DCA; F Class; 17/1/2014

Whilst in Jordan, I visited Petra, like everyone else who visits Jordan. Here are a few photos for your viewing pleasure:



My apologies for the blur and noise in the last two. I was shooting in dark conditions.

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Leaving Jordan, I was scheduled to fly on TK 813, AMM-IST, connecting with TK 786, IST-TLV. Why didn't I? I used to use a web program/app named TripIt. (I still do, but to a lesser extent, for what will become obvious reasons.) I forwarded my flight receipt, which contained flight times, to TripIt. I failed to realize, however, that TripIt changed the time of the departure without my knowledge, moving the flight one hour later than it actually was. I believe this was because TripIt filed to account for certain time changes in Jordan. In any event, TripIt told me that the flight was at 07:35, when it actually was at 06:35. I had timed my departure from Wadi Musa to make it to AMM at least one hour before a 07:35 flight. I did, barely, arrive. Of course, arriving at 06:30 is not a good way to make a 06:35 flight. I pleaded with the desk agents, who were quite confused at how I thought I was an hour early for the flight.

In any event, I needed to get from AMM to TLV, as I was schedule to have a rental car dropped off to me at around 15:00. The bus was out of the question, for any number of reasons. I ended up buying a ticket on Royal Jordanian's direct flight. From memory, an economy class ticket was around $350, while a business class ticket was around $500. I had quite a bit of time to waste, so I sprung for the business class ticket to get lounge access.

(At this point, I will note that I switched from my 5D MkII to my iPhone for all airport and airplane photos, so pray forgive the lower quality.)

As you can see, the lounge is on the upper level of the airport, above the departures level. The lounge wraps around an open atrium, with glass walls preventing people from skydiving.

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The general color scheme was red and brown.

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Food and drink were perfectly adequate. I recall (two years later) that there was a lovely selection of fresh juices.

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A view outside.

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Eventually it was time for boarding, which was accomplished via air stairs.

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I settled into my seat. Drinks are provided on the ground. Our choices are water or orange juice. I choose the latter. To my recollection, no snacks were served. And really, it's a 109 km flight, so it's not like I needed a large meal to slake my hunger on such a short flight.

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Cheers!

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The takeoff roll:
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Note that there's what appears to be an L-1011 sitting on the tarmac. Unfortunately, the photo quality is not good enough to make out the livery.

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Legroom is adequate for my nearly 2.0m frame.

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A few shots in the air during the incredibly short flight.



We're approaching TLV, which I will learn a week later is the worst airport in the world!

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Immigration and customs was reasonably uneventful. I was arriving at TLV to attend a week-long law class put on by my law school. I was approached a few times whilst waiting in the arrivals level, as I had been at the airport quite a while waiting for my car, but this was nothing like the next week . . . which will be the next report. Cheers!


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Verdict

Royal Jordanian

6.8/10
Cabin7.5
Cabin crew8.5
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering6.0

Royal Jordanian Crown Lounge

10.0/10
Comfort10.0
Meal/catering10.0
Entertainment/wifi10.0
Services10.0

Amman - AMM

8.4/10
Efficiency9.5
Access4.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0

Tel Aviv - TLV

7.6/10
Efficiency5.0
Access8.5
Services8.5
Cleanliness8.5

Conclusion

After some excitement at AMM, I ended up flying Royal Jordanian. Royal Jordanian is a fine airline, at least for a short flight, with a great lounge at AMM.

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