What? No Champagne!? Saudi Arabian Airlines DXB-RUH in F
Jul 9, 2007, 1:52 pm
#1
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SE1, London
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What? No Champagne!? Saudi Arabian Airlines DXB-RUH in F
Another last minute trip means another convoluted routing (and another trip report on an offbeat airline). The logical way of getting to Riyadh from London would be the direct flights on either BMI or Saudi Arabian. However both were full for the return journey so I ended up flying to Dubai on BA and picking up a onwards connection on Saudi Arabian Airlines (SV).
Saudi Arabian Airlines SV 563
Dubai – Riyadh KKIA
F Class Seat 5C
MD-90
On the ground
After a brief session upgrading our flight at the ticket counter, we headed through to check in Zone 3 of Dubai’s Terminal 1. There was no queue for the security check prior to check in, so our bags were scanned and we were metal detected in quick time. Despite their being seats available in First, check in wouldn’t give us a seat assignment. Instead we were issued with Y boarding passes, but given priority tags on our bags and a lounge invite. The agent seemed reasonably confident we would get our F seats.
Immigration and security were painless – unlike previous visits to Dubai – and we were soon on the long underground walk to the main terminal. SV use the DNAC lounge between Gates 12 and 14. While not especially large, it was rather well equipped. 3 PC’s with fast access, free wireless and a very generously sized breakfast buffet. The food was most welcome, with a huge choice of fruit, cereal, hot food, salad, and toast along with a very comprehensive bar. The quality was not exceptional, but it helped to stave off hunger pangs during a very boring 3.5 hour transit stop.
Boarding was called at 11:00, from Gate 32 which inevitably was the other end of the very long terminal. Still, I suppose the walk helps ward off the risk of DVT. We asked at the gate if we had cleared into First. This rather confused the girl manning the BP scanner, who got even more worried when our BP’s were rejected showing a seat change message to First despite us holding Y coupons! It took about 5 mins for her to sort this out with a colleague. End result – 5C.
In Flight
Thanks to construction work, Gate 32 has become a temporary coaching gate. Unlike some airports where this means dragging your bags down a long flight of stairs, DXB has a very convenient lift. The gate area was pretty quiet and our bus similarly so. We had a long drive through the airfield, passing an Air Astana 757 and the usual selection of EK planes. Our MD-90 looked rather small against a predominantly wide body backdrop. We boarded up the integral stairs; rather speedily as the summer heat and humidity in Dubai are rather overwhelming.
A quick BP check and we were ushered into the First cabin. First impressions? Just like a US Domestic plane really. 18 F seats arranged 2-2 with about 38”-40” pitch. The colours are quite sober, a mix of blues and purples. Irritatingly the overhead bins were filled with pillows, blankets and crew bags so I had a little throwing things around session to find room for my stuff.
Settling down in our seat we were offered papers, magazines, a pair small noise cancelling headphones and menus but sadly no pre-take off champers (the title of this report was my colleague’s reaction who hadn’t clocked it would be a dry flight). I also had a little play with the seat – electric footrest and manual recline got me into a reasonable relaxing position. There was also a PTV but I didn’t bother to find out what was playing. Airbus style drop down LCD screens were deployed the whole way through the flight. These alternated between Airshow, some short programmes and the Qibla indicator should anyone require guidance on the correct direction to pray.
The menu:
Starter
Fresh salad
Mains
Beef Emince (Pepper beef steak with tortellini in a creamy sauce with carrots and courgettes)
Chicken Biriyani
Grilled Lamb Chops (in a mint sauce with parisenne potatoes and fresh vegetable)
Dessert
Strawberry Mousse Cake
There was also a drinks list, but no surprises there.
The crew serving the First cabin was a Saudi purser, and a flight attendant who I suspect was from Indonesia. They were pretty active before take off and during the meal service before bunking off to sit it the galley for the rest of the flight. Smiles were not in abundance, but both were courteous.
The usual safety video was shown, along with the slightly less normal pre-take off prayer over the PA. Everyone has the right to practice religion, but I do find giving thanks to God in advance of a safe journey just a little unsettling. One hopes the mechanics and crew take a more practical approach to flight safety!
Take was just slightly late. Rear engine planes are always fun when you are up front as it feels like magic to be climbing into the air with almost no noise. Meal service kicked off soon after the seat belt signed pinged off. The trays were brought out with the starter and dessert plus a large glass of water. Main courses were then served individually from the galley giving you chance to inspect the offerings. I plumped the Biriyani as the beef looked a bit odd (and pasta is never great in the air) and the chops looked very dry. I chose right, as the rice and chicken was nice and tasty with just enough chilli kick. The salad was bland, and the cake looked a little too like a food colouring advert so I left that behind.
The pax load was no more than 50%, and formed the usual random assortment of people – Saudi going home (with women donning abayas and scarves on landing), Western business people and some representatives of the enormous Indian and Pakistani expat community in the Gulf. No tourists though – Saudi issues very few tourist visas, for groups only.
By this point we were overhead Qatar and turned in land to fly fairly directly to Riyadh. Lots of haze prevented any good views until shortly before landing. We ran a fairly long swooping approach from 10,000ft which gave plenty of chance for the plane to bump around in the by now very warm air over the desert. I was feeling just a little green before landing. Watching the temperature creep up as we descend was entertaining and we cleared 40C on touchdown. Saudi looked just how I remember – flat, dusty and dun coloured
On the ground
A bit of titting around saw us on stand 15 minutes late. I was a little apprehensive about immigration. It can be a breeze, or take 90 minutes if you come in behind a flight brining expatriate workers from South Asia. Thankfully there were just a few stragglers from BOM being cleared, so after a 5 mins wait I received a swift stamp of the passport and walked through to baggage reclaim. That was pretty speedy too and after a cursory x-ray of bags (a huge improvement from the days of yore at JED where I got hand searched every time) we were out landside. The airport is a remarkable piece of architecture – designed in the oil boom seventies it has oodles of marble. It has aged well in style terms (and would look great in Wallpaper magazine) and works well for arrivals. Departures are more painful….
Our pre-booked car didn’t turn up, so I haggled a most reasonable rate with a driver and we sped off into town from King Khaled International Airport. On the drive in, I was once more left to ponder what they teach at the Prince Naif Arab University for Security Sciences.
In summary
Not a bad performance. The absence of any booze notwithstanding, SV offer a respectable short haul product. While it is no more like First class than most North American routes, it certain gets you there in a decent degree of comfort. The return should be an interesting comparison – QR in First! Details to follow.
Saudi Arabian Airlines SV 563
Dubai – Riyadh KKIA
F Class Seat 5C
MD-90
On the ground
After a brief session upgrading our flight at the ticket counter, we headed through to check in Zone 3 of Dubai’s Terminal 1. There was no queue for the security check prior to check in, so our bags were scanned and we were metal detected in quick time. Despite their being seats available in First, check in wouldn’t give us a seat assignment. Instead we were issued with Y boarding passes, but given priority tags on our bags and a lounge invite. The agent seemed reasonably confident we would get our F seats.
Immigration and security were painless – unlike previous visits to Dubai – and we were soon on the long underground walk to the main terminal. SV use the DNAC lounge between Gates 12 and 14. While not especially large, it was rather well equipped. 3 PC’s with fast access, free wireless and a very generously sized breakfast buffet. The food was most welcome, with a huge choice of fruit, cereal, hot food, salad, and toast along with a very comprehensive bar. The quality was not exceptional, but it helped to stave off hunger pangs during a very boring 3.5 hour transit stop.
Boarding was called at 11:00, from Gate 32 which inevitably was the other end of the very long terminal. Still, I suppose the walk helps ward off the risk of DVT. We asked at the gate if we had cleared into First. This rather confused the girl manning the BP scanner, who got even more worried when our BP’s were rejected showing a seat change message to First despite us holding Y coupons! It took about 5 mins for her to sort this out with a colleague. End result – 5C.
In Flight
Thanks to construction work, Gate 32 has become a temporary coaching gate. Unlike some airports where this means dragging your bags down a long flight of stairs, DXB has a very convenient lift. The gate area was pretty quiet and our bus similarly so. We had a long drive through the airfield, passing an Air Astana 757 and the usual selection of EK planes. Our MD-90 looked rather small against a predominantly wide body backdrop. We boarded up the integral stairs; rather speedily as the summer heat and humidity in Dubai are rather overwhelming.
A quick BP check and we were ushered into the First cabin. First impressions? Just like a US Domestic plane really. 18 F seats arranged 2-2 with about 38”-40” pitch. The colours are quite sober, a mix of blues and purples. Irritatingly the overhead bins were filled with pillows, blankets and crew bags so I had a little throwing things around session to find room for my stuff.
Settling down in our seat we were offered papers, magazines, a pair small noise cancelling headphones and menus but sadly no pre-take off champers (the title of this report was my colleague’s reaction who hadn’t clocked it would be a dry flight). I also had a little play with the seat – electric footrest and manual recline got me into a reasonable relaxing position. There was also a PTV but I didn’t bother to find out what was playing. Airbus style drop down LCD screens were deployed the whole way through the flight. These alternated between Airshow, some short programmes and the Qibla indicator should anyone require guidance on the correct direction to pray.
The menu:
Starter
Fresh salad
Mains
Beef Emince (Pepper beef steak with tortellini in a creamy sauce with carrots and courgettes)
Chicken Biriyani
Grilled Lamb Chops (in a mint sauce with parisenne potatoes and fresh vegetable)
Dessert
Strawberry Mousse Cake
There was also a drinks list, but no surprises there.
The crew serving the First cabin was a Saudi purser, and a flight attendant who I suspect was from Indonesia. They were pretty active before take off and during the meal service before bunking off to sit it the galley for the rest of the flight. Smiles were not in abundance, but both were courteous.
The usual safety video was shown, along with the slightly less normal pre-take off prayer over the PA. Everyone has the right to practice religion, but I do find giving thanks to God in advance of a safe journey just a little unsettling. One hopes the mechanics and crew take a more practical approach to flight safety!
Take was just slightly late. Rear engine planes are always fun when you are up front as it feels like magic to be climbing into the air with almost no noise. Meal service kicked off soon after the seat belt signed pinged off. The trays were brought out with the starter and dessert plus a large glass of water. Main courses were then served individually from the galley giving you chance to inspect the offerings. I plumped the Biriyani as the beef looked a bit odd (and pasta is never great in the air) and the chops looked very dry. I chose right, as the rice and chicken was nice and tasty with just enough chilli kick. The salad was bland, and the cake looked a little too like a food colouring advert so I left that behind.
The pax load was no more than 50%, and formed the usual random assortment of people – Saudi going home (with women donning abayas and scarves on landing), Western business people and some representatives of the enormous Indian and Pakistani expat community in the Gulf. No tourists though – Saudi issues very few tourist visas, for groups only.
By this point we were overhead Qatar and turned in land to fly fairly directly to Riyadh. Lots of haze prevented any good views until shortly before landing. We ran a fairly long swooping approach from 10,000ft which gave plenty of chance for the plane to bump around in the by now very warm air over the desert. I was feeling just a little green before landing. Watching the temperature creep up as we descend was entertaining and we cleared 40C on touchdown. Saudi looked just how I remember – flat, dusty and dun coloured
On the ground
A bit of titting around saw us on stand 15 minutes late. I was a little apprehensive about immigration. It can be a breeze, or take 90 minutes if you come in behind a flight brining expatriate workers from South Asia. Thankfully there were just a few stragglers from BOM being cleared, so after a 5 mins wait I received a swift stamp of the passport and walked through to baggage reclaim. That was pretty speedy too and after a cursory x-ray of bags (a huge improvement from the days of yore at JED where I got hand searched every time) we were out landside. The airport is a remarkable piece of architecture – designed in the oil boom seventies it has oodles of marble. It has aged well in style terms (and would look great in Wallpaper magazine) and works well for arrivals. Departures are more painful….
Our pre-booked car didn’t turn up, so I haggled a most reasonable rate with a driver and we sped off into town from King Khaled International Airport. On the drive in, I was once more left to ponder what they teach at the Prince Naif Arab University for Security Sciences.
In summary
Not a bad performance. The absence of any booze notwithstanding, SV offer a respectable short haul product. While it is no more like First class than most North American routes, it certain gets you there in a decent degree of comfort. The return should be an interesting comparison – QR in First! Details to follow.
Jul 9, 2007, 2:31 pm
#2
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: BNE
Posts: 2,622
Thanks for the insight Swanhunter. The thought of F without Champagne is truly disturbing (although understandable in the circumstances).
Are you flying with QR all of the way back to the UK or just to DOH to connect onto BA? If it is QR all of the way home then I'll look forward to that report, particularly your impressions of the DOH Premium Terminal. I trust that you have a A340-600 with the onboard lounge scheduled for the return.
Are you flying with QR all of the way back to the UK or just to DOH to connect onto BA? If it is QR all of the way home then I'll look forward to that report, particularly your impressions of the DOH Premium Terminal. I trust that you have a A340-600 with the onboard lounge scheduled for the return.
Jul 9, 2007, 3:47 pm
#3
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Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SE1, London
Posts: 23,444
Are you flying with QR all of the way back to the UK or just to DOH to connect onto BA? If it is QR all of the way home then I'll look forward to that report, particularly your impressions of the DOH Premium Terminal. I trust that you have a A340-600 with the onboard lounge scheduled for the return.
But I do get an hour to play around in the Premium terminal.
Jul 9, 2007, 9:17 pm
#5
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Los Angeles
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Posts: 1,048
It still sounds better than short-haul domestic F! PTVs, foot-rests and a full meal service certainly sound better than what I deal with on my dfw-nyc flights (which is 4 hours). Thanks for the report.
Jul 13, 2007, 11:32 pm
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Jul 19, 2007, 8:13 pm
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Jul 20, 2007, 1:00 am
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