MyWorldReviews.com

Queen Alia International Airport

Amman, (JO11), Jordan

Starbucks in the Queen Alia Airport

Inside the Queen Alia Airport

I was inside the Queen Alia Airport on two separate occasions, and was disappointed each time. Many of the facilities are fairly modern - there are American restaurants like Starbucks, Cinnabon, and Pizza Hut, and a large duty free store. Unfortunately, despite the "No Smoking" signs everywhere, everyone (including the guards that work there) smokes everywhere. It is a very smoky airport, and with the exception of the Duty Free store, most of the ventilation is quite poor.

The terminal consists of four "wings", one in each of the corners of the terminal. The duty free store and other shops are located in the middle area. Approximately 45 minutes before your flight is scheduled to depart, the gate at your wing is opened, and you are allowed to pass through security to go to the gate. The security checks are fairly thorough - in addition to the standard x-ray machines and metal detectors, both men and women are patted down. (Women go into a private area that is hidden with a curtain, and are patted down by a female guard). The pat-down is quite thorough, and lasts about a minute.

Planes are boarded directly from the gate - there's no need to take a bus from the gate to the plane.

I also had a confusing experience at this airport. There was a contradiction between the gate printed on the ticket and the gate being displayed on the television screens. I thought the electronic version would be more up-to-date and waited at the gate listed on the television screens displaying the gate information. When approaching the guard at boarding time, rather than correcting me, he told me to wait until boarding time. It was a good thing I went to check the other gate, otherwise I might have missed my flight!