This is a flight I took when leaving Saudi Arabia for Europe. Saudia use low density refurbished A320s on longer haul flights to Europe. These A320s have been refurbished with flat bed in Business Class, seat back IFE in all classes and have Wi-Fi on-board.
The flight from Jeddah to Geneva uses the new Jeddah Terminal 1. Currently only a handful of flights use the new terminal, including selected Saudia flights to Central Europe/Middle East and Etihad.
There is no lounge open yet in the International side of the terminal. The train (APM) is currently on trial and not available; however the walk isn’t too bad, as a lot of the end gates are not in use.
The configuration of the refurbished Saudia A320 is 20 full flat bed Business Class seats in the first 5 rows, followed by 90 Economy Class seats. The aircraft registration for my flight was HZ-ASA. I was told that Saudia both own and lease A320s in their fleet; you can tell which ones are the owned ones by the registration ending with an alphabet letter (e.g HZ-ASA) the registration for the leased ones end with numbers (e.g HZ-AS75). The refurbished A320 are all owned by Saudia.
Upon sitting down I was offered a newspaper, a hot towel and a welcome “Anti-oxidant” juice; this is made up of a mix of mango, raspberry and strawberry juices.
There was also the traditional Arabic coffee and date service before takeoff.
There was a rather large Missoni branded amenity kit presented on this day flight.
The Flight
The flight from Jeddah to Geneva took 6 hours, slightly longer than I thought but it was against some seasonal head wind. We flew over The Red Sea with some wonderfully clear sky’s; the view was lovely en route, it seems that Saudi Arabia has a lot of hidden treasure and potential in developing these natural landscapes and resources.
Food and Beverage
Saudia do not serve alcohol on-board, instead they have some rather interesting non-alcoholic mocktails, juices, Bellini and a “Water Bar”.
The service was excellent, given that the flight was not full at all. There were about 10 passengers in Business and 35 in Economy.
They offer Dine on Demand, anytime dining. There were two set menus, Arabic set cuisine or cuisine of the Mediterranean sun. I was allowed to mix and match my meals, I chose the appetiser from the Mediterranean Sun and the main course from the Arabic cuisine.
Dine on demand menu on Saudia 
Business Class dining menu on Saudia 
Business Class dining menu on Saudia
Arabic Set Cuisine 
Cuisine of the Mediterranean Sun
The meal was stunning in both presentation and taste. I have noticed that their quantities are on the bigger side, look at how large the soup bowl is. I had the cured salmon and the soup was zucchini and shallot. The main course was lamb kofta and I finished off with the bread pudding and ice cream.
IFE and Wi-Fi
There was IFE on every seat. I enjoyed a Saudi comedy about a lady disguised as a man in order to drive. I couldn’t however connect to the Wi-Fi during the flight.
I slept a few hours before we flew over the European Alps, with some spectacular views on approach into Geneva. The bed was reasonably wide for my shoulders and long enough for my height (6’1″). The downside is that you have to cross over someone to get out, if there is someone sitting next to you that is.
Conclusion
This Saudia A320 flight was very impressive. Flat bed, great food, dine on demand and IFE, on an A320 this is as good as it can get. The only other airline that has this configuration on an A320, that I can think of, is Qatar Airways (this layout can also be found on United/Delta on premium 757 and Jetblue and American on premium A321)
Given that my flight was light, the service and attention were both excellent. It seems Saudia have elevated their international premium service. However, they need to continue to improve their ground service. Saudia is a conservative airline that doesn’t offer alcohol. Their model isn’t quite the same as Emirates, transiting mass travelling public through their megahub.
I expect the infrastructure at Jeddah will allow for a better connection between Europe and Asia (6th freedom connection) which may make Saudia a better choice.
Using Miles to Redeem on Saudia Premium Class
A one way flight between Saudi Arabia and Europe in Business Class cost 47,500 Al Fursan miles, with low tax. The availability on award seats on Saudia is decent. I have also previously flown Saudia First Class, using Korean Skypass miles.
Cheap Saudia Premium Fare?
There are attractive Saudia Business Class fares originating from Istanbul to Asia (Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila) via Riyadh or Jeddah. If you’re looking to travel from Asia to Europe, perhaps consider flying from Colombo. The fares below are extracted from Expertflyer and do not include taxes or surcharges.
I will travel Saudia Business Class. Why not. Every year they had at least Business Class cheap fare.
Hi Sam,
On the basis of this review, I’ve booked and flown the Saudia 320 with flat beds from Frankfurt to the Indian Sub Continent via Jeddah.
The seats are fantastic, food tasty, service wonderful, and with the new visa system – entry is a breeze. On my return flight from Colombo, I cleared immigration in two minutes flat and spent the transit in a comfortable hotel (Holiday Inn) near the airport.
I was a bit apprehensive of flying a 320 for a 6hr segment, but hardly noticed the difference – indeed the 320 is significantly quieter than 777-300 that operate on the Indian segments.
As of last week, there is a business lounge in the new terminal 1 – it is located in what will be the lobby of the new transit hotel . If you would like a photo, please let me know.
Once all the flights move to the new terminal, and the airline tweeks the schedule, Saudia could become a boutique transit competitor to the likes of Emirates or Qatar.
Great to know there is a lounge now!
Well, well. And I thought alliances were out.
Of all the alliances, SkyTeam membership has profoundly transformed many of the member airlines. I’ve no doubt that for many of them, transformation wouldn’t have been possible without bulk acquisition.of seat products and loyalty program scalability and standardization. Personally, I’m secretly hoping SQ will switch to SkyTeam (and CX joining Star Alliance), I find SQ network surprisingly more complimentary with SkyTeam than Star.
I can’t see LH UA SQ remaining in Star when the 3 of them and their JV airlines technically can be one super alliance by themselves. U have LH LX SN OS EW UA CM AV AD TP AC CA SQ NH VA NZ VS UK within those 3.
Hello Sam, like you, I was surprised by this new business class product by Saudia. I was wondering while watching this video, as Qatar also have a similar product on their A320 planes, it seems like Saudia has a better seat pitch. please correct me if i’m wrong. thanks
I’ve traveled on both and think they’re about the same!
Please tell me the name of the music used in the video
Dear Sam,
I’m planning to travel to Italy (Rome) via Jeddah next month. How do I know that I am going to fly on the newly refurbished A320?
I just booked my flight but I was hesitant to pay. my booking says that it is a Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 only Flight SV201.
Thank you in advance.
Best Regards,
A.
This route should be operate by the newly refurbished A320. You can tell by registration ending with alphabet instead of numbers.(e.g. HZ-ASA, HZ-ASB, not HZ-AS50)
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/sv201
This blog was really nice. I loved the music. Can you tell me the name of the music used for this vlog? Please let me know. It will be very much appreciated.
This is actually a paid track developed by Epidemic Music.
Thanks for the review! I want to fly them, but I didn’t see any sugar-free drinks (e.g., Coke Zero, Diet Pepsi, etc.) on the menu.
I have diabetes so cannot drink the fruit- or nut-based mixtures. I also don’t drink alcohol so that is not a problem for me.
Did you see them serving any of the canned or bottled fizzy drinks from Coke or Pepsi?
Shokran,
Dr. Stan
They serve Pepsi products including diet-pepsi.
Horror! I don’t like arline without alko. The food there was nothing like wow. Typical cheap business class!
nice report
looks like a nice selection of thing to eat and enjoy
It looks surprisingly good. How did you find Saudi Arabia?
Simply put, seeing is believing! You can find out my trip on my 4 vlog on Youtube.
I have flown with Saudia many times between 1998 and 2004. Has always tried hard to provide a good service. Good thing the competition has pushed to excel and the result is seen in your reporting. I took a flat bed with Gulf Air when travelling to Rome and it was awesome and also very affordable.