Saudia 777
Flight review: Jeddah to London in Saudia Economy class
Route, cabin, aircraft
Dammam to Jeddah on A330 in economy class, connecting in Jeddah to London Heathrow on Boeing 777-300 in economy class.
Departure Airport
Today SAUDIA has 149 aircraft, including the latest and most advanced wide-bodied jets presently available: B787-9, B777-268L, B777-300ER, Airbus A320-200, Airbus A321, and Airbus A330-300. It is our pleasure to list the most important historical highlights of SAUDIA since its establishment until becoming one of the best airlines in the world. Aug 12, 2016 Saudia business class seats 777 By 5:40PM the boarding process was complete, at which point the female flight attendants came around the cabin with hot towels, and then Arabic coffee and dates. Saudia business class pre-departure hot towels Saudia business class Arabic coffee & dates. May 12, 2020 Saudia flies their Boeing 777-200ER with 341 seats in a two-class configuration of Business and Economy. Guest Class is Saudia’s Economy Class product. The seat pitch in the Saudia Boeing 777-200ER Business Class cabin is 58 inches. The seat width is 19.5 inches. The Boeing 777's unique combination of superior range, outstanding fuel efficiency and passenger-preferred comfort has created long-range success for carriers around the world. And the 777-300ER now gives operators a perfect opportunity to extend that success.
Check-in at Dammam International airport. The building has an almost museum like feel to it, grand and in the old 70’s USA airport style – all polished marble, grand pillars, gushing water fountains and metal flower pots. Saudia is the home-carrier for Saudia Arabia and spreads itself between Dammam, Riyadh and Madinah Internationally, though Jeddah remains its strategic hub. As such, to get to London today it’ll be a 2-hour domestic hop across the Empty Quarter to connect into SV115.
The staff service this morning is so bad as to be almost comical. A lethargic Saudi Ground Service agent can barely muster the energy to raise his head from a music video blaring out on his smartphone. The service is almost totally wordless and speaks of zero concern or regard for customer service and enthusiasm, and now reflecting on it, has almost a veneer disdain to it. It is an extremely poor introduction to the airline.
Domestic Connection
As with almost any flight in and out of Jeddah, you are likely to be among some Hajj travellers or other pilgrims. This domestic flight is no different. An unexceptional flight on an A330-300 with plenty of room to spread out, and comfortable seating. The full IFE system is available onboard, though headphones are not given out. The catering consists of (after five domestic flights in this trip) a ubiquitous cheese sandwich or a cake, with juices and coffee. The crew were helpful and patient on this morning’s flight and they oblige when I ask for a pillow and blanket.
Transit
Saudia’s domestic and International operations are based at the South Terminal. This is an overcrowded, dated, dirty and quite chaotic little terminal. This is all set to change in the next year or so, with all flights being phased over to the enormous Terminal 1. This will improve the convenience for customers transferring at Jeddah as well as offering an overhaul in the passenger experience. But, for now it’s still the South Terminal and a heavily delayed Lahore flight has made the departures hall feel like a bazaar and tempers are heated.
Boarding in Jeddah
Boarding begins early, with a secondary security check for London and US bound flights. All flights are from remote stands which involves a short bus journey and hints at the savage Saudi heat. The upside of this inconvenience is being able to board the plane by stairs and admire the sheer size of the Boeing 777-300ER in the 45 degree blazing sun.
Baggage Allowance
Saudia offers a generous baggage allowance even on the lower fare tiers of 23kg checked in luggage and 9kg of cabin baggage. Two items may be checked-in. In reality, some customers are assumed to have hand luggage much heavier than this given the struggles to get these items in the overhead bins.
The Seat
The flight is operated on a slightly older version of the Boeing 777-300ER which does not feature the newest Business class seat. This does not perturb me too much given I am flying in the back cabin and the seats themselves in Economy are just as comfortable and spacious between the new and old versions of the 77W. The main difference for the older seat is a lower quality IFE system (smaller screen and slow response) and the lack of electric power. It does have a USB charger however.
The seat reclines generously in a cradle motion, thus not disturbing those behind you too greatly. The upholstery is pastel beige leather and the cushioning is excellent. Headrest adjustment is good and there are paddle footrests for all customers. The headrest is leather. If you look a little closer around the seats and in the washroom, you’ll see that the aircraft is very dirty and rarely sees a strong deep clean. This is the only part of the hard product that is a letdown.
Of note on Saudia is a large open space at the rear of the aircraft in the centre of the aircraft which is for prayer during the flight although I am yet to see it being actively used on any flight.
Cabin & Toilets
Saudia does seem to be having some issues with maintaining their aircraft. The in-cabin cleanliness is really below the correct standard, especially around the floor areas and in the washrooms. These could be much better maintained, and it is unfortunate as they let down what are very spacious and well-upholstered aircraft.
Food & Drink
Drinks service starts quite quickly after take-off. Shelve those plans for a G&T above the clouds, as Saudia is a dry airline and does not serve any alcohol onboard. However, the juices are high quality.
The meal onboard todays flight is very different from the typical tray-based meal service observed on almost all Economy Class flights. The service commences an hour after take-off and each table is laid with a sand-coloured synthetic tablecloth. Then the main course is offered on a small serving plate. In addition to this the appetiser, bread and dessert are laid out on the table. This type of service makes it feel much more personalised and makes a good impression.
The choices today are between a local chicken khabsa, and a Red Sea pasta dish. Given the quiet flight, I ask to try both. The quality of the meals is quite good although there are faults with each. The khabsa is really mislabeled and is much closer to a chicken curry in flavour and look, whilst the Red Sea pasta is overcooked and stodgy. But each have a degree of appeal and are satisfying on the whole.
The appetiser is a healthy salad, whilst the dessert is large and calorific. Quite an appealing custard crumble type affair. What is most impressive is the attention paid by the crew, who take time to ask which option I had preferred. The pace set for the service was also good with limited waiting around.
During the cruise section of the flight, no snacks are available in galleys. After a short nap, I wake up to find that a select few customers are nibbling on snacks. Had I missed it? I ping the call button and double check, and the reply is a bit vague. Eventually they bring me a cereal bar. Peering over my seat, I notice that my more favoured fellow flyers have chocolate biscuits, mini-Crositinis from Italy and the same cereal bar, so it is assumed there is a good choice, but it is offered in a very ad-hoc way that is easy to miss as a customer.
Entertainment
Among the more curious things onboard is a bulkhead video that screens for the first half an hour. It is a junket for the Vision 2030 initiative that has created much hubbub among Saudi people. This ostensibly means bringing Saudi Arabia out of the shadows and creating a more sustainable economy that does not rely entirely on oil. The climax of the video is a cleaning display in the Holiest Mosque in all the land, with various sweepers – manual and machines, creating the cleaning equivalent of a synchronised swimming routine complete with go-pro mounted brooms.
Back to the personal systems, and this is seatback individual IFE. On demand from boarding, one annoyance is that they disable the system almost immediately after landing. The content is excellent and contains over 300 movies, multiples box sets and TV shows in addition to 35 games. So, customers should never run out of entertainment onboard a Saudia flight. The content includes latest blockbusters, although there is quite a high degree of overzealous airbrushing which can make films such as Wonder Woman or Fast and the Furious rather tedious. There is even a special Tom Hanks category in the film choices. A good IFE guide is provided, although the content is renewed every two months meaning that towards the end of that period it is lacking a competitive edge in terms of the latest movies.
On some of Saudia’s new 777, the aircraft have cameras of such high definition that you can see the content of the mobile phone screen of the aircraft dispatcher on the ground, however this older aircraft’s camera looks like a barely focused fuzz against incandescence.
Comforts
There is a much stronger service process onboard this day flight, with a hot, spearmint-smelling towel given out on the ground, in addition to a nicely finished menu and headphones. The headphones are in-ear and customers may keep these. The contents of the menu give me a positive feeling of anticipation for the meal service.
A 200ml bottle of water is given out after 10 minutes. 200ml seems a thrifty and wasteful amount to give out on a 6-hour flight. For me that is but a gulp. Cold juices were also given out at irregular intervals.
Staff service
The crew onboard today’s flight rated very favourably in terms of friendliness and attentiveness. The first impression after boarding is very positive, and the crew is quite multicultural onboard. This mostly stems from the female staff, who hail from a variety of countries. The male crew tend to be all Saudi citizens. The Saudi gentleman serving my section was particularly obliging and helpful, and keen to engage with each customer where appropriate. Some of the non-Saudi crew were a little less smiley and positive in their approach to cabin duties. The crew onboard dedicated more time to being in the cabin than outbound crew, and appeared to enjoy parts of the service. Overall the impression was positive.
Verdict
Saudia lacks polish when it comes to ground service and the airport experience, but hopefully the culture is set to change when they move into their new terminal at Jeddah. Up in the air however, Saudia provide an excellent, spacious and appealing product which is generous in legroom and comfort.
The food is fine and the staff have moments of genuine warmth and engagement with customers. They are patient with infrequent travellers and efficient in their various duties.
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Though we suspected as much, Carlisle Interconnect Technologies has confirmed to Runway Girl Network that its new FAA supplemental type certificate (STC)for installation of dual-band satcom provisions on Boeing 777-300 and 777-300ER series aircraft was obtained in support of the Taqnia hybrid Ka/Ku connectivity project for Saudia. The solution will provide broadband connectivity to passengers.
“This STC implements the Taqnia Ka/Ku antenna onto the Saudia aircraft and serial modifications are already in progress,” revealed CarlisleIT director of product management, integrated products Jeff Behlendorf as part of a broader interview during which he explained CarlisleIT’s decision to join the Independent Aircraft Modifier Alliance (IAMA).
Asked if CarlisleIT followed the ARINC 792 spec for this Saudia package, Behlendorf confirmed that the Saudia installation follows the ARINC 791 standard “and we expect that standard to remain in use for most gimballed antenna installations in the future. ARINC 792 is more likely to be adapted for use with flat panels that require a large footprint on the aircraft.”
Saudia is a long-time customer of SITAONAIR’s L-band-supported Internetconnectivity service (and offers a variety of packages including a free WhatsApp plan on various routes). Yet it opted for the Taqnia broadband hybrid terminal for Airbus A320 narrowbodies, and is clearly now doing so for the 777s.
Broadly, industry appears to be seeing some meaningful movement now regarding dual-band antenna offerings. In addition to Taqnia’s work for Saudia, Viasat has placed renewed attentionon a hybrid (having originally launched on Virgin America), and both Viasat and Gilat are eyeing potential hybrid opportunities in China.
Saudia 777-300 Economy
From CarlisleIT’s perspective, RGN asked, is hybrid antenna business on the march, and what regions will most likely adopt in the near-term – the Middle East, China, India?
“CarlisleIT has done Ku, Ka, and hybrid antenna installations using the same installation philosophy with a mix of radomes tuned for optimum performance. Generally, customers who fly over regions without a large single provider giving uniform coverage, see advantages in hybrid antennas,” responded Behlendorf.
He added: “It seems likely this will remain a solution being used in the Middle East and on Pacific Ocean routes. Central Asia as well as China and India have single-band options available to themand we would expect them to opt more often for a non-hybrid antenna on the majority of their fleets.”
CarlisleIT is on record sayingit is eager to support Inmarsat and Panasonic’s nextgen GX antenna work. But has any work started on a hybrid solution combining Panasonic Ku with Inmarsat GX?“CarlisleIT remains in contact with Inmarsat and Panasonic regarding their future antenna plans, but we cannot share that information publicly,” said Behlendorf.
Cached
Interestingly, Inmarsat regional vice president APAC Chris Rogerson told RGN correspondent Neelam Mathews that – quid pro quo-style – the year-old arrangement between Inmarsat and Panasonic enables Inmarsat to offer Panasonic’s NEXT IFE solutionsto Inmarsat’s commercial aviation customers.
“Over the past year, Inmarsat and Panasonic have made significant progress with aligning our processes and systems. This has been our core focus… [covering] important areas such as sales process, contracts, technology and operations processes,” he said.
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