RJ Trip Report
As promised, here is my return report from Muscat to New York JFK via Amman on Royal Jordanian Airlines’ Crown Class! The first segment from Muscat to Amman was average and the F/As were more interested in resting than serving. The second segment, Amman to JFK, was just great and the three F/As in front were efficient, friendly, personable, and this flight left me with an excellent impression. The service was definitely impressive and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to give this Middle East carrier a try! Of course, flying an Airbus A340-200 was fascinating especially across the Atlantic Ocean. This was my second Airbus A340-200 flight. The Crown Class sleeper seats on the Airbus A340 are roomy (83 inches of legroom) and surprisingly comfortable. Here is the full report!
Flight Itinerary and photo link:
August 21, 2009
RJ 601 MCT-AMM Lv0700 Arr0930 Airbus A320-200 F-OHGX “Madaba”
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqOqo
Connect to
RJ 261 AMM-JFK Lv1100 Arr1610 Airbus A340-200 JY-AIB “Princess Iman Bint Abdullah”
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqOsw
Check-in:
After a quick and quiet ride to Muscat airport, I arrived at a very dark departure hall around 4:15am. The airport was quiet, as most passengers on the Emirates and Qatar’s 4am flight were done with check-in, and there were simply not much going on. The Royal Jordanian counter was not busy, as the load reflected it. I was still curious why there was a last minute change from a EMB-170/195 to an Airbus A320. I used a common airline business class check-in counter and the friendly staff took my boarding pass and e-ticket and proceeded back to the RJ line and printed out my boarding pass. They could not check me through to JFK, even though I was on a RJ flight, but simply used the AA codeshare flight number. So much for oneworld! The agent wrote me a lounge invite to Oman Air lounge, as well as giving me my boarding pass to Amman. She was apologetic and said that they would ask a RJ staff later on.
Oman Air Lounge (well not really)/Plaza Premium Lounge:
Security was no wait, as well as immigration! The whole process took less than ten minutes, and then I was invited to the Oman Air Lounge. The lounge was quiet as the only passengers there were from QR, and there flight would board in a few minutes anyway. The lounge itself was very classic, sort of dark and just not impressive. There was a nice buffet spread though with soup, sandwiches, salad, and various hot dishes and cold desserts. There were many TVs on different channels throughout the lounge. I had a bowl of green pea soup and a nice soft roll. As I took a quick bite on the sandwich, the check-in agent tapped my shoulder and I thought that I might got my onward boarding pass to JFK. No, she was apologetic, but told me that she gave me the wrong invitation. I was supposed to be on the Plaza Premium lounge.
Well as she said, the Plaza Premium lounge was actually nicer, especially in terms of décor. Still dark but the whole lounge was a contemporary décor with a hint of the Arabic culture. I really like the design of the nap room area – just like a giant Arabian tent in the middle of a dessert under a starry sky. I could not manage some good pictures. The whole lounge was modern and many comfortable sofa chairs, as well as a smoking room and children’s playroom. Nap room contains of many small rooms. The food buffet however was a bit lacking compared to Oman Air Lounge. I took a bag of chips and a diet pepsi, and took a seat nearby. Only one other passenger used the lounge.
Boarding:
Muscat – our load was really low this morning. There were six passengers in J (with most of them as non-rev or friends of RJ) and Y had less than 30. Boarding was called early despite the lack of need to. As a J passenger, I had a separate bus to take so I ended up waiting at the gate lounge for over 15 minutes (I would have gotten time to buy a carton of cigarettes using the rest of Oman money). Well two other passengers joined me and we boarded the empty A320 “Madaba,” which was the name of a Jordanian city.
Amman – I did not want to repeat the misstep last time when I was the last passenger boarding the flight from Amman to Muscat, so I decided to head to the gate early especially there was a secondary checkpoint for USA flights. The Jordanian staffs were surprisingly friendly and professional, and made my day a bit easier. So for future RJ Crown class passengers, I will allow at least 45 minutes prior to departure time. Don’t wait for the announcement at the lounge especially if you had a bus gate. This time, I was there too early, but at least I got my duty free, exchanged my money, and passed through two security checks easily. The flight looked pretty full in Y, and J was about 50 to 60% full. Boarding began at 10:23am and there was no priority call, and indeed they asked business class passengers to wait! However, I want to take pictures of the J cabin before the mass entered. So I boarded along the first group of Y passengers.
Flight Details:
The flight was fairly straightforward from Muscat to Amman. Boarding was completed with door closed at 6:49am, and push back occurred at 6:56am. We took off from R/W26 at 7:02am. Flying time was three hours and the routing took us towards Al-Buraymi, and then as we leveled off at 36,000feet. Then we passed cities of Abu Dhabi, and then North of Dammam, and crossed the Arabian Dessert and the next city we passed was Al-Jawi, and then into Amman. Descent began at 8:39am Amman local time (Amman was an hour behind from Muscat) and landed on R/W26R at 9:02am, and we parked at Bay 22 at 9:09am.
The long haul flight from Amman to New York was more interesting. Despite an on-time boarding time, the flight was delayed due to no-show passengers and the requirement to off-load their bags. Nine passengers decided not to board the flight for some reason and the whole process took forty-five minutes, which was quite annoying. Door was finally closed at 11:46am, and we pushed back at 11:50am. We took off from R/W26R, after a Saudi Arabian Airline’s Boeing 757 landed, at 12:03pm.
The routing was surprising for me, as we headed straight towards Jericho, and the Israeli city of Tel Aviv and I got some really good pictures of the Israeli coast (and also thank to somehow slower climb rate of Airbus A340-200). (I assume the relationship between Israel and Jordan was okay these days!) We climbed to 32,000feet, and then heading towards Greece, Kamiro/Rhodes and Khios, before climbing again to 34,000feet. We passed cities of Maribor, Graz, LInz, Passau, Nurnberg, Dortmund, North of Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Perth (UK/Scotland), and Hebrides Islands, and climbed to 36,000feet as entered the Atlantic Ocean. We climbed to 38,000feet, as we entered Quebec, Presque-Ile, Millinocket, Augusta, Portland (Maine), Kennebunk, Boston and then Long Island.
Descent began at 4:34pm, New York time, and then landed on R/W22L at 5:03pm, and we parked at gate B30 at 5:24pm. We were late due to problems with the jet bridges at our gate.
As promised, here is my return report from Muscat to New York JFK via Amman on Royal Jordanian Airlines’ Crown Class! The first segment from Muscat to Amman was average and the F/As were more interested in resting than serving. The second segment, Amman to JFK, was just great and the three F/As in front were efficient, friendly, personable, and this flight left me with an excellent impression. The service was definitely impressive and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to give this Middle East carrier a try! Of course, flying an Airbus A340-200 was fascinating especially across the Atlantic Ocean. This was my second Airbus A340-200 flight. The Crown Class sleeper seats on the Airbus A340 are roomy (83 inches of legroom) and surprisingly comfortable. Here is the full report!
Flight Itinerary and photo link:
August 21, 2009
RJ 601 MCT-AMM Lv0700 Arr0930 Airbus A320-200 F-OHGX “Madaba”
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqOqo
Connect to
RJ 261 AMM-JFK Lv1100 Arr1610 Airbus A340-200 JY-AIB “Princess Iman Bint Abdullah”
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqOsw
Check-in:
After a quick and quiet ride to Muscat airport, I arrived at a very dark departure hall around 4:15am. The airport was quiet, as most passengers on the Emirates and Qatar’s 4am flight were done with check-in, and there were simply not much going on. The Royal Jordanian counter was not busy, as the load reflected it. I was still curious why there was a last minute change from a EMB-170/195 to an Airbus A320. I used a common airline business class check-in counter and the friendly staff took my boarding pass and e-ticket and proceeded back to the RJ line and printed out my boarding pass. They could not check me through to JFK, even though I was on a RJ flight, but simply used the AA codeshare flight number. So much for oneworld! The agent wrote me a lounge invite to Oman Air lounge, as well as giving me my boarding pass to Amman. She was apologetic and said that they would ask a RJ staff later on.
Oman Air Lounge (well not really)/Plaza Premium Lounge:
Security was no wait, as well as immigration! The whole process took less than ten minutes, and then I was invited to the Oman Air Lounge. The lounge was quiet as the only passengers there were from QR, and there flight would board in a few minutes anyway. The lounge itself was very classic, sort of dark and just not impressive. There was a nice buffet spread though with soup, sandwiches, salad, and various hot dishes and cold desserts. There were many TVs on different channels throughout the lounge. I had a bowl of green pea soup and a nice soft roll. As I took a quick bite on the sandwich, the check-in agent tapped my shoulder and I thought that I might got my onward boarding pass to JFK. No, she was apologetic, but told me that she gave me the wrong invitation. I was supposed to be on the Plaza Premium lounge.
Well as she said, the Plaza Premium lounge was actually nicer, especially in terms of décor. Still dark but the whole lounge was a contemporary décor with a hint of the Arabic culture. I really like the design of the nap room area – just like a giant Arabian tent in the middle of a dessert under a starry sky. I could not manage some good pictures. The whole lounge was modern and many comfortable sofa chairs, as well as a smoking room and children’s playroom. Nap room contains of many small rooms. The food buffet however was a bit lacking compared to Oman Air Lounge. I took a bag of chips and a diet pepsi, and took a seat nearby. Only one other passenger used the lounge.
Boarding:
Muscat – our load was really low this morning. There were six passengers in J (with most of them as non-rev or friends of RJ) and Y had less than 30. Boarding was called early despite the lack of need to. As a J passenger, I had a separate bus to take so I ended up waiting at the gate lounge for over 15 minutes (I would have gotten time to buy a carton of cigarettes using the rest of Oman money). Well two other passengers joined me and we boarded the empty A320 “Madaba,” which was the name of a Jordanian city.
Amman – I did not want to repeat the misstep last time when I was the last passenger boarding the flight from Amman to Muscat, so I decided to head to the gate early especially there was a secondary checkpoint for USA flights. The Jordanian staffs were surprisingly friendly and professional, and made my day a bit easier. So for future RJ Crown class passengers, I will allow at least 45 minutes prior to departure time. Don’t wait for the announcement at the lounge especially if you had a bus gate. This time, I was there too early, but at least I got my duty free, exchanged my money, and passed through two security checks easily. The flight looked pretty full in Y, and J was about 50 to 60% full. Boarding began at 10:23am and there was no priority call, and indeed they asked business class passengers to wait! However, I want to take pictures of the J cabin before the mass entered. So I boarded along the first group of Y passengers.
Flight Details:
The flight was fairly straightforward from Muscat to Amman. Boarding was completed with door closed at 6:49am, and push back occurred at 6:56am. We took off from R/W26 at 7:02am. Flying time was three hours and the routing took us towards Al-Buraymi, and then as we leveled off at 36,000feet. Then we passed cities of Abu Dhabi, and then North of Dammam, and crossed the Arabian Dessert and the next city we passed was Al-Jawi, and then into Amman. Descent began at 8:39am Amman local time (Amman was an hour behind from Muscat) and landed on R/W26R at 9:02am, and we parked at Bay 22 at 9:09am.
The long haul flight from Amman to New York was more interesting. Despite an on-time boarding time, the flight was delayed due to no-show passengers and the requirement to off-load their bags. Nine passengers decided not to board the flight for some reason and the whole process took forty-five minutes, which was quite annoying. Door was finally closed at 11:46am, and we pushed back at 11:50am. We took off from R/W26R, after a Saudi Arabian Airline’s Boeing 757 landed, at 12:03pm.
The routing was surprising for me, as we headed straight towards Jericho, and the Israeli city of Tel Aviv and I got some really good pictures of the Israeli coast (and also thank to somehow slower climb rate of Airbus A340-200). (I assume the relationship between Israel and Jordan was okay these days!) We climbed to 32,000feet, and then heading towards Greece, Kamiro/Rhodes and Khios, before climbing again to 34,000feet. We passed cities of Maribor, Graz, LInz, Passau, Nurnberg, Dortmund, North of Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Perth (UK/Scotland), and Hebrides Islands, and climbed to 36,000feet as entered the Atlantic Ocean. We climbed to 38,000feet, as we entered Quebec, Presque-Ile, Millinocket, Augusta, Portland (Maine), Kennebunk, Boston and then Long Island.
Descent began at 4:34pm, New York time, and then landed on R/W22L at 5:03pm, and we parked at gate B30 at 5:24pm. We were late due to problems with the jet bridges at our gate.
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