Royal Jordanian's New 787-9: Paul Lucas Finds a Flawed Gem

Royal Jordanian has taken delivery of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, and Paul Lucas from Wingin' It was among the first reviewers to put the new aircraft through its paces, departing from Queen Alia International Airport (AMM) in Amman. The resulting video, "FIRST REVIEW! Royal Jordanian's BRAND NEW 787-9 (wow.)", published on 13 June 2026, delivers a verdict that will be familiar to followers of the channel: a genuinely impressive hard product let down by soft-product shortcomings that Royal Jordanian has struggled to shake across multiple reviews.

A New Aircraft, A Familiar Airline

This marks Lucas's third coverage of Royal Jordanian, following a positive 2022 business class review aboard an Airbus A320 and a mention in his Top 10 Trips of 2022 — making this his first assessment of the carrier on a widebody Dreamliner. It is also the first time the channel has covered Queen Alia International Airport as a standalone subject. For context, Josh Cahill reviewed Royal Jordanian nine months prior to this video, concluding that "Royal Jordanian is one of the least exciting airlines in the Middle East," — a verdict that makes Lucas's more nuanced take all the more interesting.

The 787-9 itself is a platform Lucas knows intimately. His Dreamliner coverage stretches back a decade and encompasses carriers as varied as Lufthansa, Oman Air, KLM, Hawaiian Airlines, and Air Austral — giving him a well-calibrated benchmark against which to measure Royal Jordanian's new configuration. His previous Lufthansa 787-9 review similarly praised the seat while criticising the catering, suggesting the pattern here is not unique to Royal Jordanian.

The Seat Impresses; The Service Does Not

Lucas's overall verdict on Royal Jordanian's 787-9 is mixed but leans positive on the hardware. The seat earns clear praise — he describes the product as genuinely competitive — and the aircraft itself delivers the well-documented passenger benefits of the Dreamliner: lower cabin altitude, larger windows, and reduced engine noise. On the strength of the hard product alone, he is willing to recommend the route.

This really is a fantastic product.

The catering, however, is where enthusiasm dims. Lucas had been anticipating the lamb mansaf — a Jordanian national dish that would have been a natural showcase for the airline's regional identity — but the meal that arrived fell short of that aspiration. His assessment of the main course is measured rather than damning: "The main course was okay, nothing special, but no cause for complaints, either." That is a neutral verdict, but in the context of a brand-new flagship aircraft, neutral is a missed opportunity. Royal Jordanian's 2022 iteration earned praise for its catering; the 787-9 debut does not replicate that.

The service pacing is a more concrete failure. Lucas notes that "the lunch service was really slow," a complaint that echoes his earlier Royal Jordanian coverage and aligns with Cahill's criticism of the carrier's crew performance. Slow meal service in a business class cabin is a structural problem — it compresses the time passengers have to sleep or work — and it is the kind of issue that a new aircraft cannot fix.

IFE and the Verdict

The in-flight entertainment system draws a negative assessment. Lucas observes that "the entertainment selection isn't huge," which is a meaningful shortcoming on a long-haul Dreamliner product. Royal Jordanian operates routes where passengers may be in the air for several hours, and a thin content library — particularly when competitors such as Qatar Airways and Emirates set the regional benchmark — will register with discerning travellers. The IFE criticism is consistent with the channel's earlier KLM 787-10 review, where entertainment limitations contributed to an outright negative recommendation; here, the seat quality prevents a similar conclusion.

Despite the soft-product gaps, Lucas's tip is unambiguous: if you are considering Royal Jordanian, the 787-9 is the aircraft to seek out. The seat is the product's strongest asset, and the Dreamliner cabin environment is a material upgrade over the carrier's older narrowbody fleet. For a Oneworld member airline that has historically operated below the alliance's premium tier, the 787-9 represents a genuine step forward — even if the service and entertainment need to catch up with the hardware.

The broader picture is one of an airline in transition. Royal Jordanian's 2022 business class review on the Airbus A320 was warmly received; the 787-9 debut suggests the carrier can deliver a competitive seat but has not yet built the service culture to match it. For travellers routing through Queen Alia International Airport, the recommendation is clear: book the Dreamliner, manage expectations on the meal, and bring your own content.