Transit in RUH
 

Hey guys,

I'm new here and my first post is a question about RUH.

Im flying from MNL to FRA via RUH in february. I'm just reading some TR and they are saying ALL there are no signs for Transit and that you have to ask the officials. The TRs were all a bit older.

Is that still real? We are talking from 2014 and not from 1980's :D

Second question, do I have any problems to carrying alcohol in my luggage? (checked in ofcourse! ;))

Greetings

Riyadh Airport was built in the late 70s/80's, and at the time was the largest airport in the world.

They are way overdue for an upgrade/replacement. 2 years ago I went to book a flight onsite at the airport for my sister, and they had no facilities at the sales desk for credit cards, cash only....

Yes definitely transit can be confusing, do ask, and ask again, as there is also a tendency by uniformed staff to just point you in a direction even if they did not understand you. Of course there are good and helpful staff, but they are few and far between.

If you are strictly transit and your luggage is going through without your retrieval, you may be ok(not sure about it.). If you have to remove and recheck you will have a problem. I definitely recommend avoiding the possible hassle if you can and not carry any.

Should you decide to do this, the minute you leave the jetway before you take the escalators down tell someone from security that you are transiting. They will take you through a glass door as you are already in the departure area on the non-ground floor.

I should think alcohol on a transit trip won't be a problem as they won't be subject to customs search. Only bags entering the country are subject to that.

Transit in RUH
 

Hi,
I had an unplanned transit in Riyadh in 2011. I had a misconnection, so no KSA visa whatsoever. No transit desk nor signs. Followed other passengers toward immigration. Spotted a staff member accompanying a UM. He told me 'Oh, you're /the/ transit passenger tonight'. Waited till he was done with the UM. He took me behind immigration line (with no passport control for me) to the customs area. Normal procedure was for bags to be screened by customs, even for transit passengers. The guy seemed ok, so I told him there might be a problem as I had alcohol. Somehow my bags didn't show up on the belt ;) So only my carry-on was xrayed by customs.
Then I was escorted back through immigration, litteraly waved through. Security once again xrayed my carry-on, though they seemed way more lax than customs, just the opposite from Europe... It seems that if you look white, they always stop the line for you. Probably the only time I'd rather not have some kind of 'priority' in an airport... Almost nothing to buy at the duty free, except dates (as on the fruit). Great experience though, as I might never have the opportunity, or even the visa, to come back. However, if I ever was transiting again through RUH, I would rather not bring any alcohol, nor probably pork, with me. Wanted to take pictures from the plane, but the Air India FA quickly shouted 'Stop. Stop! This is Saudi Arabia, they see you, they stop the plane and put you in jail'. So not much pics to share ;) That flight was also a story of its own. Enjoy the dates :)