Before we begin, I’d like to apologize for the delay, this was originally supposed to be up yesterday with the final leg being scheduled for today. However, I ended up being really busy until late last night to actually even fly the flight so instead everything will be shifted by one day even though this would’ve chronologically been yesterday. Anyways without further ado, let’s get into this flight!
Good morning from me and my friend from a not so bright morning here in Amman, Jordan! 
and I’ve got to say, we really did enjoy my time here more than I expected. The food was great, the sights were amazing, the people were friendly and it was overall a very welcoming country. It is also significantly MUCH SAFER compared to the countries surrounding like Syria 
Iraq 
Lebanon 
and even parts of neighboring Israel 
and Palestine 
But unfortunately, amazing trips like these don’t last forever and it is now time to head back home to Miami, FL 
. Our first segment will be on Jordanian flag carrier, Royal Jordanian’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in economy class from here in Amman over to New York’s JFK 
before flying the rest of the way home on Monday. I’m glad you’re joining me on this trip, and let’s get going!
We arrived at Queen Alia International Airport in plenty of time mostly because airports all over the world tend to get more congested around this time of year. Yeah Thanksgiving 
is only really celebrated in the United States 
but there is also a good amount of foreigners going to the US to visit their families that live there. I myself also have some family coming in from Colombia 
on Tuesday and on actual Thanksgiving day so I really couldn’t have stayed here longer. Arriving earlier than usual was also a pretty smart move as we had to go through a security check before we could even enter the terminal. The terminal itself is very beautiful, it opened only in March 2013 and it still looks good as new, it’s extremely open and spacious which is great considering that most airports in the Middle East aim for this type of architecture, I mea look at Dubai International, Hamad International, Zayed International etc… it really gives the visitor or transfer passenger a good impression of the city and country. The check in process was really straight forward and didn’t take long at all the only issue was that my friends bag was slightly overweight so we had to move a few things but nothing to crazy. Security and outbound immigration 
was also not a big issue at all and the officers at both checkpoints were some of the friendliest we’ve both encountered on our overseas travels. As with most airports, it dumped us directly into a duty free store where we both bought some chocolates 
just to keep us fulfilled before our lunch on the flight to JFK. In the departures hall, there was a good amount of souvenir, general and even more duty free shops. I guess travelers really like to shop before their flight, they were pretty much at every corner of the terminal. Another reason as to why coming earlier than usual was a smart decision was because passengers flying to the US or Canada 
had to go through a THIRD security check before entering the gate holding areas. It wasn’t all bad though because the space was dedicated to every gate in the area and not just a single one. There is also an extra duty free store in case you wanted to do more shopping 
a restroom can also be found here thankfully compared to Hamad International in Doha, Qatar 
There are 6 destinations in the US and Canada you can reach from AMM nonstop, our destination of NYC JFK Chicago-O’Hare, Detroit MI, Washington Dulles, Toronto Pearson and Montreal Trudeau. United Airlines briefly flew between IAD and AMM although this has since been axed. That isn’t all though as Royal Jordanian has expressed interest in 3 more American destinations, Dallas/Forth Worth, Miami, FL and Los Angeles, CA 
with the latter 2 being old destinations which haven’t been served for over decades. DFW has an official starting date of May 2026, MIA and LAX are yet to be fully announced but it appears that the former is set for 2026 and the latter for 2028 in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics being hosted in LA I hope both routes eventually do come as it would not only make my journey back to Amman easier but would also make it easier for the folks on the West Coast.
FLIGHT INFO:
Original: Queen Alia Intl (AMM/OJAI)
Destination: John F. Kennedy (JFK/KJFK)
Flight Time: 11:34
Boeing 787-8 (Royal Jordanian)
Server: Expert
Our ride to the Big Apple
will be JY-BAG, an exactly 9 year old Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner delivered to Royal Jordanian in November 2016. Can’t believe 2016 was already 9 years ago. This particular aircraft had spent the night on the ground after coming in from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 
and will perform the JFK turn and come back to Amman tomorrow afternoon.
Boarding commenced right on time and with both me and my friend having high AAdvantage statuses, we able to board pretty quickly just as the last few crown or business class passengers boarded.
Royal Jordanian only has one type of layout for their Boeing 787-8s which I covered in depth fully on the JFK - AMM report so I suggest you go check that out if you want the full details.
I’m in the say row as I was previously although on the left side of the aircraft this time so instead of 28K it it’s 28A. My friend was initially seated in 27A just ahead of me but a family wanted to sit together so we volunteered to take the seat next to me so a grandmother can sit with here grandchildren. So that means me and my friend are seated right next to each other in seats 28A and B. We both found are seats to be not much different to before in terms of comfort and amenities on the seat itself. As for crew handout amenities, we were given just a pillow and blanket although there was probably no water bottle because this was a daytime flight. Like before, there isn’t a whole lot to talk about regarding this cabin it gets the job done which is the most important part and it was pretty clean so that’s a plus. Boarding concluded right on time so we wasted to no time pushing back and making our way over to AMMs RWY 8R for take off!
Bye, bye Jordan!
until probably when Royal Jordanian actually commences flights between Amman and the 305
After a lovely departure over Jordan
Palestine Israel and the Mediterranean Sea, we reached our initial cruising altitude of 32,000ft near the Peloponnese Peninsula in Greece 
Before lunch was actually served, we actually were handed out some peanuts 
and a beverage of choice which I chose a Coke an my friend Club Soda. 
This service was really well appreciated as my friend is one of those people who like small services before the main meal itself so that’s a plus on his end although me personally, I could care less if an airline does this or not. As for the lunch service itself, we both decided to have the Middle Eastern Rice 
dish because come on, we needed more before we actually left Jordan for good. A water cup, side salad 
bread roll with cheese 
and what looked like a chocolate brownie for dessert, we also had a choice of beverage were we both chose Cokes this time around. Overall the both of us were really satisfied with this meal service with my original complaint of the bread being cold still being present. I’m just not a big fan of cold food in general and when the bread is cold, it just hurts my heart as I am a big bread fan myself. It wasn’t the end of the world however as I rarely have warm bread served to me on flights unless I’m flying some type of world class airline. The crew were AMAZING always in the aisle checking up on us, having normal conversations with the passengers in both English AND Arabic and we’re also really good with kids as I say them constantly checking up on the big family seated in the rows ahead of us. There really isn’t much I can really give the crew on this flight except another 5 stars 
The entertainment situation is also the exact same featuring a good selection of movies and TV shows, a very high quality inflight map and the very unfortunate lack of WiFi. While scrolling through the IFE I found Wicked and I decided to give it a watch mainly because I had planned to watch it the sequel that came out last Friday with some friends so I wanted a refresher on the original before going out to watch the new one.
Halfway into the film we found ourselves overflying the beautiful alpine mountains
near the tiny town of Engi, Switzerland 
I would LOVE to visit this country some day to do some skiing 
probably in January that’s when I like to do my skiing trips.
After the film ended, I decided to take a nap while my friend continued to watch content on the IFE. I was pretty much knocked out for a good chunk of the rest of the journey through Europe and by the time I woke up, we were overlying northeastern Canada
Around this time we were served the final meal of this flight dinner, for dinner we were served a basic noodle dish 
which we either came solo or with chicken 
depending on what the passenger wanted. We both chose to have the chicken with came alongside the same cold bread roll water cup, side salad and a slice of vanilla cake 
for dessert. We were both very satisfied with our meals on this flight although like I keep saying, I wish that bread was warm.
There wasn’t a whole lot of time remaining on this flight so I decided to put on the moving map and just talked with my friend while we made our way over the eastern seaboard. Eventually we flew right over Boston, MA and began our initial descent from 36,000ft into NYC
Our approach this evening initially was projected to be straight forward. Once past Boston, we flew immediately past Providence, RI before overflying the Long Island Sound to cross into Long Island. We’d be passing areas like Montauk and Hamptons, however we were instructed to make a 360 near Islip Airport around 37 miles east of JFK. We’d also make a few deviations to the original route by Farmingdale, 19 miles away from JFK. We’d fly past the coast over the ocean before finally turning base and coming into land on JFKs RWY 31R.
Down below are the surrounding areas of Farmingdale, NY as we continue to make our deviations around the airport, my friend told me this is extremely common for JFK around this time as the evening rush begins to pick up.
Soon enough, we passed directly back over Long Beach, NY as the sun was beginning to set
on this lovely evening as we approached JFKs RWY 31R.
TOUCHDOWN! Welcome back to New York, NY!
on this wonderful evening with clear skies, perfect visibility and a high amount of air traffic. I really enjoyed both my flights with Royal Jordanian, the seats were great, crew was nice, food was sufficient and tasty and there wasn’t really a whole lot I could complain about. One massive thing they NEED to change is their WiFi situation, that alone can drive away a lot business travelers who hope to get work done while in the air or even just the generic leisure traveler like myself who wanted to access social media while in the air. RJ is the only airline currently offering nonstop flights between the US and Jordan but if that changes again, they could be at a BIG DISADVANTAGE if their rival offers internet while they don’t. The bread situation can also be improved although it really isn’t that big of a deal and more of a minor nitpick so who cares. Overall, I had a good on time onboard and would 100% choose to fly Royal Jordanian once again on a future trip to Jordan!
Although we ourselves landed fairly early, typical traffic congestion here at John F. Kennedy International Airport and a few other factors meant that we didn’t actually park up at JFKs terminal 8 until 30 minutes or so after we actually landed. It did provide us with a good view of the sunset over the airport as we patiently awaited for our aircraft to begin moving again. We ended up at gate 45 once again which was the same gate we departed from last week. As our aircraft begins its preparations to be flown back to Amman, we will be making our way over to passport control
which wasn’t all that busy as there was only an American Airlines flight from Tokyo Haneda, Japan 
ahead of us and another AA flight from Cancun, Mexico 
behind us. Our bags also came out somewhat quickly and we’re soon off to drop off our belongings at my friends house before heading out to Manhattan to have ourselves a fancy Italian 
dinner. I’ll stil have tomorrow as well to enjoy New York City as on Monday morning, I’ll be boarding my American Airlines flight back home to Miami
That will be regarding this flight on Royal Jordanian’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in economy class from Amman, Jordan to New York JFK Stay tuned for the last segment of this trip back to the 305 and as always between now and the next time, see you in the sky! 
I could have waved to your aircraft from the ground lol. Beautiful photos!
