TVOW at RUH
 

Dear all,

I'm quite fascinated by the fact it is so difficult to get a visa for Saudi Arabia and in addition curious how it is to fly on Saudia. Therefore I'm considering to book some kind of TWOV via RUH. The rules therefore are pretty straightforward: Onward ticket within 12 hours to a third country. Therefore I thought it might be a nice idea to do an itinerary like:

SV120 LHR1040 - 1955RUH
SV211 RUH0150 - 0600MXP

Thereby all TWOV requirements would be met. But I read that SV often changes schedules at short notice or cancels flights. What happens if due to a schedule change my layover would be longer than 12 hours? Don't get me wrong, I'm completely aware that such a long layover can be very boring. However for me it would be worth it since I'm fascinated of the idea to fly London to Milan via Saudi Arabia :)

Regards

I don't think there should be a problem at all.

Can someone be denied boarding for having book a strange looking itinerary? Or is it possible to face extensive questioning upon arrival in RUH?

I agree if my intention was to fly something like LHR-RUH-KUL. But as I only want to log RUH and be back on Sunday, as mentioned above, I would like to fly a routing like LHR-RUH-MXP or even LHR-RUH-CDG which might raise awareness indeed.

Oh, I mistakenly overlooked your desired routing. I'd just tell check-in staff that you're doing it for the miles (if you're not with Skyteam, join now...), or not go at all. Or, wait until you have to book one of the suggested transit routes.

Any airport is a fine one, as long as you can freely leave it.

I'm yet to see Euro backpackers at RUH airport :)

@RJ1H aims to be a pioneer in this avenue. I look forward to his report.

Your point? You don't fly enough through RUH.

My point is that I haven't seen single Euro backpacker at RUH Terminal 1, 2 or 5. I've seen people (couples) traveling from SE Asia to Europe, but I haven't seen any typical backpackers.
Oh, and I wish I was flying not enough via RUH...