Royal Jordanian 787-9 Seat Selection Guide (2026)

The lottery: nine chances in eleven you get the old cabin

Royal Jordanian flies eleven Dreamliners. Two are 787-9s with the new suite cabin. Nine are 787-8s with a 2-2-2 Business layout that predates it by a decade. They fly the same long-haul routes out of Amman and sell into the same fare buckets, and the difference between them is the difference between a private suite with a door and a middle-of-the-row seat you climb out of.

The identification is easy and it is available before you pay: open the seat map and count the Business seats across one row. Four means the 787-9 and a suite with a door; six means the 787-8. If you are paying a Crown Class fare and the schedule offers both, this is the single most valuable thing on this page.

The trap: two Crown Class suites have no window

The 787-9 suite cabin is eight rows of 1-2-1, and on a seat map all thirty-two look alike. Twelve of them are window suites — the A and K positions in rows 1 to 8, minus the centre pairs. Four of those twelve do not work as window seats.

• 5A and 5K — no window at all. The suite is complete and the seat is fine, but the shell sits against a blank stretch of fuselage. You get a wall panel where the window should be, for the whole flight, at a Crown Class fare.
• 6A and 6K — two windows, both badly placed. The glass sits against the suite awkwardly enough that the view is restricted rather than absent.

Everything else in the cabin is genuinely good. 4A, 4K, 7A and 7K have perfectly aligned windows and are the pick of the cabin; 1A and 1K are next, forward and private with a clean window each. 2A, 2K, 3A, 3K and 8A and 8K all have working windows too.

The D and G centre pairs run the length of the cabin and every one of them reaches the aisle directly. Book D and G together if you are travelling as two — they are the only seats on the aircraft designed to be shared. If you are travelling alone, take a window suite; there is no reason to sit inboard.

Economy: 30A and 30K are the seats to ask for

Economy is 280 seats in 3-3-3, lettered A B C | D E F | H J K, and it is split into two cabins by the mid-cabin doors. The forward cabin runs rows 11 to 26; the rear cabin runs rows 29 to 44. Row numbering jumps straight from 26 to 29 — there are no rows 27 or 28 — so counting rows to find your seat will mislead you.

The best economy seats on the aircraft

30A and 30K. Row 30 is the first full row of the rear cabin, and because row 29 ahead of it is a short row that drops the A and K positions, 30A and 30K have no seat in front of them at all — extra legroom without a bulkhead wall against your knees — and both have a perfectly aligned window. That combination does not occur anywhere else in the cabin.

The rest of row 30 is good rather than exceptional: 30C, 30D, 30F and 30H get the extra legroom at the aisle and in the centre block. 34A, 34K, 38A and 38K are the next-best window seats, chosen for clean alignment rather than space.

Row 11 is the forward bulkhead, and the centre is the place to be

Row 11 opens the forward cabin with extra legroom on all nine seats, but the outboard seats have the side lavatories directly ahead and the queue that comes with them. 11D and 11F are the exception: about 29 inches of clear space to the bulkhead, in the centre block, away from the lavatory doors. They are the best legroom seats in economy. All of row 11 loses underseat storage and takes the tray in the armrest.

Row 29 looks like a legroom row and is a lavatory row

Row 29 is the short row that opens the rear cabin — seven seats, B C D E F H J, with exit-row legroom. It is also wrapped around the mid-cabin lavatories: 29B, 29D, 29E, 29F and 29J have a lavatory door immediately ahead, and 29C and 29H catch the traffic. The legroom is real and so is everything else. If you want space in the rear cabin, row 30 is one row back and far better.

The rows to refuse

41A and 41K have no window — solid wall, in the middle of an otherwise ordinary block. Rows 25 and 26 close the forward cabin against the mid-cabin lavatories, and row 26 does not fully recline. Row 43 backs onto the rear lavatories and row 44 is the last row: three centre seats, no recline, lavatories behind.

Windows

Beyond 41A and 41K, the glass is out of line at 14A/14K, 18A/18K, 22A/22K, 33A/33K and 37A. Rows 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19 and 20 in the forward cabin all have clean alignment and sit well clear of both lavatory banks — that is the stretch to aim for if you want an unremarkable window seat and nothing more.

Quick picks by traveller

Comparable guides

• Royal Jordanian 787-8 — the other nine Dreamliners
• Gulf Air 787-9 seat guide
• Saudia 787-9 seat guide
• EgyptAir 787-9 seat guide
• Oman Air 787-9 seat guide

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Royal Jordanian’s 787-9 and 787-8?

The Business cabin, and it is a large difference. The two 787-9s have 1-2-1 suites with sliding doors and direct aisle access from all 32 seats. The nine 787-8s have an older 2-2-2 layout where window passengers climb over a neighbour. Check the seat map before booking: four Business seats across a row means the 787-9, six means the 787-8.

Which Crown Class suite should I book?

4A, 4K, 7A or 7K — those four have perfectly aligned windows. 1A and 1K are the next best. Avoid 5A and 5K, which have no window at all, and 6A and 6K, where the windows sit badly against the suite. If you are travelling as a pair, the D and G centre seats sit side by side and both still reach the aisle.

Which seats have no window?

Four. 5A and 5K in Crown Class and 41A and 41K in Economy face solid wall. 6A and 6K in Crown Class have glass but a restricted view, as do 14A/K, 18A/K, 22A/K, 33A/K and 37A in Economy.

What are the best Economy seats on the 787-9?

30A and 30K. Row 29 ahead of them is a short row that drops the A and K positions, so 30A and 30K have no seat in front at all — extra legroom with no bulkhead wall — and both windows are perfectly aligned. For pure legroom, 11D and 11F give about 29 inches to the forward bulkhead without the lavatory doors that affect the rest of row 11.

Why do rows 27 and 28 not exist?

The mid-cabin doors sit between the two economy cabins, and Royal Jordanian numbers straight over the gap. The forward cabin ends at row 26 and the rear cabin starts at row 29. Counting rows to locate your seat will put you two out.

Is row 29 a good exit row?

No. It has exit-row legroom, but it is a seven-seat row wrapped around the mid-cabin lavatories: 29B, 29D, 29E, 29F and 29J have a lavatory door immediately ahead, and 29C and 29H catch the queue. Row 30, one row back, has extra legroom without any of that.