Part 6: Riyadh (RUH) to Jakarta (CGK) Saudia business class
Flight SV822 - Airbus B777 - Seat 1L - 350 EUR as part of FCO-RUH-CGK
STD 01.15am - STA 2.00pm (flight time 8h45m)

Even though Riyadh airport has distinct priority queues, priority boarding was not strictly enforced as the gate agents just started boarding both queues at once. Not that it mattered much. We had a remote stand for our flight, and quite disappointingly there was no special bus for business class passengers but an overcrowded bus for all. Ugh. On the upside, it is always a special feeling to board a big aeroplane like the 777 from the stairs instead of a jet bridge.



Once on board, things soon got much better with an attentive – mostly south-eastern Asian crew – welcoming us on board. Saudia has quite some variations in its business class among its fleet. I would say that this 777 with fully flat seats 2-2-2 is neither the best one they have (there are planes configured 1-2-1 with direct aisle access for all) but it is also far from the worst (A330s with not fully flat seats with a weird angle) from what my internet research told me.





The seats to go for as a solo traveller are obviously one of the middle two seats as you have direct aisle access and nobody needs to climb over you. But as I'm a sucker for views (especially if flying in a new country or airport) I still ended up taking a window seat after mulling about it for a long while in the weeks before my flight.

The seats were very comfortable in its day position and felt spacious enough. At 1.85 metres tall I could just about reach the foot rest below the big TV screen, which was of good quality. There were plenty of (USB) plugs to keep your electronic devices charged and the plane was wifi equipped (but I didn't pay for it/test it out due to the reasons mentioned before when reviewing the Saudia flight from Rome to Riyadh). Also at the seats were a pillow and blanket.







Soon after getting seated, amenity kits (a slightly nicer bag as my FCO-RUH flight but the same content) and headphones (no brand name but OK quality) were distributed.



One of the flight attendants also passed through the cabin with PDBs – I opted for the intriguing sounding date juice, which was actually fairly tasty and not as bad as I assumed it to be.



Also menus were distributed. Even though the flight departed well after 1am, there would still be a full dinner service. Shortly before landing we would get breakfast served, which makes sense despite the 2pm local arrival time.





Before departure, Saudia broadcasts a small prayer.





As it was dark and we departed away from any of the city lights, no pictures of this. I was however able to get a glimpse of take-off via one of the two installed cameras (cockpit view and view directly below).



The business class cabin was about 90 percent full and despite the late departure time it seemed that everyone still partook in the dinner service. I was thinking of skipping dinner altogether and maximise sleep, but as I hoped that dinner service would this time be faster than on my previous Saudia flight and we had more than nine hours to go to Jakarta, I decided to stay up, eat and watch a film. The selection is far from exhaustive but there were a few decent options in the entertainment system. I settled for the film 'Dunkirk' – which is a film about British queuing etiquette.



I forgot to take a snap of the starters on the menu – but I chose again the Arabic mezze as the two other options were prawns (not a fan) and a unappetising sounding salad (not a cow). The mezze was good – but not as good as on the FCO-RUH flight. Just moments after the starter was brought on a plate, a flight attendant also came along asking if we wanted a soup. Count me impressed for offering another course in between starter and main – you don't see that often in business class. The Moroccan harira soup which was served was absolutely delicious too. Flavourful and spicy – it really hit the right spot. It was also nicely presented with a small flower.



For my main, I had the lamb biryani – which was very good as well. To end the meal I had a mint tea and the pistachio and sour cherry cake, which was decent.





The meal service took about two-and-a-half hours. Quite long for a red-eye flight but as I anyway wanted to finish watching the movie I didn't care much as I knew I would easily get a solid 5 hours of sleep if I wanted. Overall, I found the food quality to be excellent – the same counts obviously for the quantity. Count be impressed on this. The only negative was again that the crew seemed to be so overwhelmed with all the meals and disappeared afterwards that it was impossible to get a drink besides the water served with the meal. It again took repeated calls to get a nice juice with the meal. If there is one thing Saudia needs to improve on, it is being more generous and pro-active in keeping their passengers hydrated – it is weird that at not a single point besides PDB and an offer for tea at the end of the meal you are asked if you might want a drink.

I did sleep very well and by the time I woke up, we were flying in between Malaysia and Sumatra down towards Java. There were some decent views over the island of Sumatra from my side of the plane.



For breakfast, I went against all my instincts and opted for the American pancakes. It was fine enough – but I felt I should have chosen the beef tapa as it looked much better seeing what the elderly Indonesian lady in the seat next to me got served.





We landed on time in a smog-covered Jakarta – what a massive urban sprawl this city is! And then we were only flying over the western suburbs/surrounding cities and were not even close to the city centre itself..







Landing was smooth and we taxied first past the freight terminal, then the old terminal with its iconic architecture which seems mostly used by secondary Indonesian carriers, and finally the new terminal where we parked.







A short line at immigration meant I was through within minutes, and after withdrawing some rupiahs I was in a taxi to my hotel for the next two nights.



In short: I was quite impressed with the flight. Although not state-of-the-art, the hard product is decent and the same as you find with many other airlines. I managed to have a good night of sleep on it. The soft product very much impressed me – both in quantity and quality. Kudos to Saudia for this. If only they'd offer a more elaborate drinks service throughout the flight it would be even better.

Next up: The magnificent Hermitage hotel and exploring the traffic-mad Indonesian capital.