At the end of January I had the chance to go and visit an old uni friend living in Doha, which was tied in with the Australia Day long weekend (26 January), so had around 9 days to play with.
In addition to Doha, we organized a trip to Jordan, which had been on the bucket list for long time.
The easiest and most simple way of getting from where I live, Melbourne to Doha would have been the direct Qatar airways flight, and returning from Amman via Doha. Tickets were surprisingly expensive with Doha as the final destination, I think as a result of the gulf blockage and few airlines offering tickets. The cheapest seats were around $2,500 rtn, on a non-earning (Qantas frequent flyer) fare. Considering QR typically charge half this to go through to Europe, it was a bit expensive. With no other ME carriers or the obvious Asian carriers (SQ, CX etc) flying to DOH, I had to do a bit of fare searching. Being a loyal QF FF, this usually involves oneworld options.
The best option for price (value for money) and timing was with Srilankan flying from Jakarta to Doha and returning from Kuwait in business class for a little over $1,100. To get to Jakarta, the easiest way was to fly with Jetstar to Bali, and then an LCC flight over to CGK.
25 January 2018
Jetstar JQ35 MEL – DPS Boeing 787-8
Scheduled 18:55 – 21:45 (5:50hrs)
While in work, I got a notification that the flight had been delayed an hour, no big deal, but good communication. I sneaked out of work slightly early, walking the 5 minutes down the Southern Cross to catch the skybus to Melbourne Airport. The skybus service is very good, albeit over-priced, however until the state government actually welcomes in the 21st century, road remains the only way to get to Melbourne airport. Thankfully I had left plenty of time as the trip took close to an hour with Long weekend Friday afternoon traffic.
Jetstar have the efficient self-check in booths at T2, so was checked in and through security in a few minutes. I made my way to the Qantas First Lounge which is a very relaxing way to spend time before the flight. Having come straight from work, the first thing I did was take a shower.
EK 388 heading to SIN and DXB
EFFA7458-EAE5-4277-AE21-C952D3481A75 by Jono, on FlickrInteresting line markings
1F14C7FE-BF23-40F6-BB0F-33D868310C6E by Jono, on FlickrQF 738
1773A8E0-1ADE-4852-B8CB-FC1FBE5179A0 by Jono, on FlickrBy the time I emerged, the delay had extended to two hours, due to late incoming aircraft from HNL. Part and parcel of travelling with an LCC running a tight ship. At least I was in the lounge.
After a few glasses of champers it was time for my first Jetstar 787 flight. I have flown many times on the A320 including the delightful PER-SIN 5 hr redeye so wasn’t fazed by the prospect.
Ice cream in the QF first lounge
9D11370D-EAE4-4051-A0D0-3FA219E43687 by Jono, on FlickrMy ride up to DPS
3080C6D5-1D8C-4D7A-90B6-4B9F534D4933 by Jono, on FlickrQR 388, otherwise known as the easy option
8AC4A1AA-8F33-45CE-87DB-EFB687B5F55A by Jono, on Flickr
690FB2D0-A4E9-4308-82FF-2F0FF8B5EAA7 by Jono, on FlickrAs the evening before the public holiday, it was clear this would be a full flight,
Watching 3 billboards, great movie. The IFE was free on this sector, not sure why, perhaps because of the delay.
2FE5FE08-6726-4900-9AE6-38BFCD8C17DC by Jono, on FlickrThe view from the Novotel, raining pouring down with the control tower outside
EA7DF970-CB17-4B91-974B-DFCC8560A1B7 by Jono, on FlickrI spent the night in the Novotel, which was pleasant and certainly glad I didn’t venture further with my delayed flight.
26 January 2018
Lion air JT35 DPS – CGK Boeing 737-900ER
Scheduled 09:20 – 10:15 (1.55hrs)
A short stroll to the terminal, and check in was over in two minutes with no lines and a pleasant assistant. The domestic terminal in DPS is very modern and pleasant, and I settled down for a quick coffee.
The best part of this flight was being able to walk under the wing with lots of photo opportunities, as many other people seemed to enjoy too! No restrictions here!
Great view from the DPS domestic terminal
4EDB2DDA-5A87-4D7C-804E-EFDB07D58266 by Jono, on FlickrLionair 737s come and go
F1535CDE-F93B-4978-B4B1-458EDD6E4D73 by Jono, on Flickr
12924F23-5F45-4862-9F41-557BE3451494 by Jono, on Flickr
8536936B-2A8C-4618-A5C4-AF3E0C97A3D7 by Jono, on Flickr
E24D01BE-6D21-482A-96C7-E03C5966862B by Jono, on Flickr
CC965918-3590-4640-B0CF-7EA5E6C6E86A by Jono, on Flickr
5FD5795A-9856-45DB-A66B-3A64B640AFD0 by Jono, on Flickr
D407B083-3FC8-4030-9BDC-387B8700553B by Jono, on Flickr
E95CA73B-B633-4E73-A53D-E12F929EBB64 by Jono, on Flickr
F52CA0D8-B8C0-42E5-9CF4-42DFBFB6DE16 by Jono, on FlickrI was excited to be going on my first -900 series flight, and the aircraft did seem longer compared to the -800 which I fly often. The flight was fairly standard for an LCC, and was pleasantly surprised at the legroom and cheerful service. The final approach into CGK must have been one of the longest I’ve ever taken, we were full flaps and gear down for what seemed like 12 miles, I guess trying to slow the rate of arrivals into the very busy CGK.
BDD06B2E-67C2-451E-80DC-EDA751380889 by Jono, on Flickr
A224F722-89E1-470A-98D2-313C73149A9D by Jono, on Flickr
422BE83A-5FFF-47FD-98CA-B3EEB4F31BAC by Jono, on Flickr
E73166D2-66B7-42DF-A2D6-BC15DEB2762E by Jono, on FlickrLong line for take off!
154E07C7-B50D-49E1-A246-9252C172EC8F by Jono, on Flickr
41225202-CA98-4655-A875-8B529642A88C by Jono, on FlickrTerminal 1 at CGK seemed far more rudimentary than the modern terminal at DPS, although actually far less hassle with no taxi touts harassing tourists – unlike DPS.
5F8A598F-BCB9-4EB1-A9CB-181A4BA2E822 by Jono, on Flickr
4F34BB5D-2178-44CB-BEB4-BDC9CAD2479E by Jono, on FlickrBasic inter terminal transfer bus
AE3CEFCD-D4CE-44AD-ACCA-EB8DF6157B05 by Jono, on FlickrThai 772 heading to BKK
A6AF2196-9BD0-4C58-B571-8DE978455123 by Jono, on Flickr
D0C19BCD-1294-4D52-BFC5-7615489FA4D3 by Jono, on FlickrMy A330 landing an hour late
A81AD552-6916-43D5-8725-3DA009A48AAD by Jono, on FlickrAfter finding the terminal bus transfer and waiting in the humidity for about 10 minutes, the bus turned up and everyone piled on. It’s a very basic but not unacceptable service.
Arriving at the slightly more up-to-date terminal 2, I was swiftly checked in on Srilankan through to DOH.
Srilankan uses the Pura Indah lounge at CGK, which is probably the worst lounge I’ve ever been to, and after about 5 minutes decided the main terminal was a better experience. After finding a tucked away bar, I had a quiet beer and waited for the flight.
26 January 2018
SriLankan Airlines UL365 CGK – CMB Airbus A330-200
Scheduled 14:25 – 17:30 (4:35hrs)
The inbound flight was running about an hour late which meant I had to endure another hour of the CGK terminal, but finally boarding was called and I made my way onto the scheduled A330-200. I have flown UL many times, but this would be the first time flying the A330-200. While the business class wasn’t I the same league as that on the A330-300, it was perfectly acceptable for this daytime flight.
The flight turned out to be full, with many headed for the connections through to the Middle East including my grumpy European seat mate who was headed for DXB.
Business class on the A330-200
18AFAFAA-3BD4-4979-BA18-191820B5CE50 by Jono, on FlickrModern T3, where all international airlines are soon relocating to
CB4A7663-105B-4AE4-AD7A-F8673572A2A9 by Jono, on FlickrGreat curry as usual on UL
0679F400-6097-4F61-8252-49DDCDC1DBE2 by Jono, on Flickr
FD724BBB-E3D9-4A1A-BC17-02AF75DEBED1 by Jono, on Flickr
4DBA4D9D-E9DE-4BA1-A2D9-4D406D79BA90 by Jono, on Flickr26 January 2018
SriLankan Airlines UL217 CMB – DOH Airbus A330-300
Scheduled 19:00 – 21:35 (5:05hrs)
Not being disappointed at missing the lounge experience at CMB, it was straight off one plane onto another. This time I had the comfort of the A330-300 series. The comfort and privacy level of this seat is miles ahead and much nicer for this evening flight.
68E0C7EC-CA9C-4A05-8A70-0229F9403080 by Jono, on FlickrEK 77W heading to DXB
DDD47FEF-0510-41AF-B7D4-16C37FAF65CE by Jono, on Flickr
4BFCBEA4-3920-457D-8BA6-DEC02B2C239B by Jono, on Flickr30 January 2018
Royal Jordanian RJ651 DOH-AMM Boeing 787-8
Scheduled 07:00 – 08:55 (2:55hrs)
After a relaxing couple of days visiting my friend in Doha, it was time to go onto Jordan, the taxi dropped us off in the dark at terminal and thanks to priority service we were having some breakfast in the lounge in no time. The Oryx lounge is perfectly acceptable for a short stay and the breakfast was good.
We would be boarding by bus this morning which is always more interesting, especially for boarding a wide body.
Good view of the modern DOH terminal
C9CCD5C7-1C92-42A0-8797-959BC907BC47 by Jono, on FlickrGE engines on the RJ 787s
09912828-581A-4869-9B95-D02C44D10B53 by Jono, on FlickrI had secured a window seat just forward of the wing for the flight across the gulf to Amman. The seats were quite comfortable for this short flight, but not sure I’d want to do long flights in them.
The service was fairly basic with a cold sandwich and soft drink, considering how expensive this flight was.
Jordan by Jono, on FlickrAfter around 3 hours of flight, I was starting to wonder why we weren’t descending, a look at the moving map confirmed my suspicions, we were circling AMM at high level. Most of the other passengers seemed oblivious to the fact, but shortly after the captain came on to say that there was fog at AMM and we would hold while waiting for the weather to improve.
After holding for close to an hour and not commencing an approach, I realized the chances of going to AMM was looking thin. Being glued to the moving map, this was confirmed when we started heading south and the captain confirmed we would be going to Aqaba.
What I found surprising was that we didn’t even attempt an approach, and having since looked up the runway at CAT 2 rated, it must be that the crew were not certified for an ILS landing. I don’t know how frequent weather diverts are at AMM?
As a silver lining the approach to Aqaba was quite spectacular with an interesting geographical location with Egypt, Israel and Jordan in very close proximity, both the old and new Eilat airports were visible.
Red Sea
Jordan by Jono, on Flickr
Jordan by Jono, on Flickr
Jordan by Jono, on Flickr
Jordan by Jono, on FlickrShort haul RJ aircraft, which were also diverts from AMM.
Jordan by Jono, on Flickr
Jordan by Jono, on Flickr
Jordan by Jono, on FlickrUnfortunately, as with many airlines, the experience started to deteriorate once things went awry. There was no communication from the crew, and people were beginning to get quite agitated. As Aqaba is a domestic airport, and lacking handling facilities for widebodies (I think) , there would be no deplaning.
There was a water run at least, but nothing else was provided, and in all fairness, I doubt any other catering would have been loaded. We were on the ground for around an hour, after a refuellling we were on our way back to Amman.
Upon landing, the aircraft door was stuck and wouldn’t open, took around 20 minutes for the door to open. Everybody was very glad to be able to get off…..even if we all got stuck in the jetbridge! The door to the main terminal was locked and the whole plane was stuck in the jetbridge, we could see lots gesticulating from the ramp but it took around another 15 minutes for someone to open the door. By this point it was almost comical but everyone was rather tired and frustrated after what would have been a simple short haul flight taking up the whole day.
Jordan by Jono, on Flickr
Jordan by Jono, on Flickr
Jordan by Jono, on Flickr
Jordan by Jono, on FlickrOverall it was an interesting way to get to the middle, far more interesting than EK via DXB!
I thoroughly enjoyed Jordan, it was a fascinating place, and wish I had more time, the Dead Sea and Petra were fantastic.
A few photos on the return:
Jordan by Jono, on Flickr
Jordan by Jono, on Flickr
Jordan by Jono, on Flickr
F32EA455-9FF4-4418-B83D-9EABB2E925EB by Jono, on Flickr
0E3F0C5F-CCD9-490F-8325-174D8A743C8E by Jono, on Flickr
1FF35B88-A106-4E9E-BB77-362C802EBBB0 by Jono, on Flickr
Jordan by Jono, on Flickr
Jordan by Jono, on Flickr
