After a lovely time in Jordan, it was time to fly to Egypt. My short flight onboard a Royal Jordanian A319 in business class was very pleasant.
Royal Jordanian A319 Business Class Review
I booked my ticket using British Airways Avios at a cost of 12,500 Avios (business class). Taxes and fees totaled $134.70, which included government taxes and a $54.40 “surcharge” from British Airways.
Check-In
Previously, I outlined the advantages of flying Royal Jordanian in a premium cabin or with oneworld elite status out of Queen Alia International Airport (AMM) so will only add here that RJ offers a special check-in area, dedicated security line, and private passport control booth for its premium customers.
> Read More: Why I Prioritize Flying Royal Jordanian Out Of Amman
Lounge
All business class passengers have access to the Crown Lounge which is located above the duty-free shop. You can read my full review here.
> Read More: Royal Jordanian Crown Lounge Amman (AMM)
Boarding
Our flight boarded about 30 minutes prior to departure. Although there were plenty of award seats when I booked a couple days before travel, the flight filled up and it appeared every seat was taken onboard. Our aircraft had oneworld livery on it.
Royal Jordanian 505
Amman (AMM) – Cairo (CAI)
Friday, April 1
Depart: 5:55 PM
Arrive: 6:25 PM
Duration: 1 hr, 30 min
Distance: 294 miles
Aircraft: Airbus A319
Seat: 3H (Business Class)
A flight attendant greeted me as I boarded and pointed toward my seat after inspecting my boarding pass.
Seat
Royal Jordanian offers excellent business class seats on its A319, which is comprised of 12 seats spread over here rows in a 2-2 configuration. For such a short flight, it was lovely to have copious amounts of legroom, generous recline, and a footrest.
Seat position can be adjusted via a number of buttons controlling recline and the position of the leg rest.
In-seat power is located in the center console between seats.
In addition to overhead lights, a “snake” reading light was available.
Food + Drink
The food and beverages served onboard was nothing short of impressive considering our flight distance was only 294 miles. Flight attendants rarely get up to offer business class passengers a beverage service on flights that short in the USA, but here we enjoyed a rather hearty dinner after takeoff.
Service began with Arabic coffee and a date shortly after boarding.
That wss followed by a choice of water, apple juice, or orange juice (still prior to departure).
All beverages were served in glasses, not plastic.
Once in the air, meal service began with a ramekin of mixed nuts (including pistachios, cashews, almonds, and peanuts) and a choice of beverage.
Next, a hot towel was offered.
Flight attendants appeared with a tray including Arabic mezze and a salted caramel dessert. The mezze looked good and pita bread was shortly offered with it.
For a 294-mile flight, that is an outstanding meal, isn’t it?
Only that was just the first course.
About 10 minutes later, I was offered a choice of hot chicken or beef shawarma wraps. Delicious!
Let my empty tray testify to my overall satisfaction with the meal:
I concluded dinner with coffee.
IFE + Wi-Fi
While the RJ A319 does not have individual screens, its Sky Connect service offers streaming movies, TV shows, games, audio, and the Quran on-demand via your phone, tablet, or laptop.
Interestingly, this was an intranet-only service: there was no wi-fi internet available.
Lavatory
A dedicated lavatory for business class passengers was located in the fort of the plane. It was drab, but clean.
Service
The lovely flight attendants deserve high praise for their gracious service and for hustling to serve a full cabin on such a short flight. Flight attendants were on their feet the entire flight and I greatly appreciated their kindness.
CONCLUSION
We landed about 15 minutes late in Egypt, a delay the captain blamed on “busy traffic” into Cairo.
Egypt still uses old-school paper arrival forms:
I’m very glad I chose RJ on this route and look forward to my next Royal Jordanian longhaul flights (it has been a few years).
Isn’t it refreshing to see such excellent service on such a short flight?
No reason Domestic F seats (I know, it’s really premium economy not a true F experience) here in the USA cannot have leg rests as well. It’s one thing my wife lets me know about every time we travel
Puts the North American airlines to shame and to a lesser extent the European ones. But then again the US airlines work for their shareholders not the customers.
If I had to proffer a guess I would say this plane was ex-Virgin America. That specific First seat is identical to the ones on Virgin America prior to Alaska shedding them.
No, RJ installed these seats in 2006. Yes, they’re the same make and model of the old Virgin America A320 aircraft.
RJ is a good airline, I have always good experiences flying with them.
The USA big three just don’t care, they don’t need to compete, especially in this wacky time period, where folks almost beg them to give them money.
UA can serves prison’esque meals and financially they aren’t hurting, folks are still flying and paying loads of money to fly with them.
Did they serve alcohol? What champagne was offered?
There was a limited alcohol menu (nothing printed) and some sort of sparkling wine was offered.
Not so long ago, say 2018, they offered Moët on AMM-CAI.
The worst airline company ever they don’t respect the hours at all because of them I lost my transit flight and the reason is waiting for 3 people for more than a hour
I thought you were on keto?
That was the point of this post:
https://liveandletsfly.com/no-airline-food/
I am at home…but not on the road.