Hi,

I am booking a flight from Saudi Arabia to the UK and it will have a transfer in Riyadh.

I am booking the flights separately and I can either have a transit time of 1hr30mins or of 5 hours.

I would obviously prefer the shorter transit time but I am not sure if this is long enough for me to transfer from a domestic flight to an international flight??

Are both flights on Saudia? If they are then you should be fine. Just tell them to check any baggage through at the domestic checkin, and get your international boarding pass. Then you'll only have to go to Terminal 2 and go through immigration. If your domestic flight is more or less on time then you should be fine.
If the UK flight is on a foreign airline then you should probably allow longer. You may not be able to check you bag through and you may have to check in again for the international flight. Also, it's a longer walk from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1.

Thanks for the reply.

The domestic flight is obviously Saudi a but the international flight is with air France. I think this also leave from terminal 2 along with Saudi international flights.

I'm only going to be carrying hand luggage so that solves the luggage problem.

I'm not sure if I should risk it with the possibility of a flight delay. Need to have a good think about this.

Air France indeed goes out of T2. Since AF and Saudia are Sky Team partners you should be able to check through and get your international boarding pass when you check in for your domestic flight. And they should take care of you if you miss connections. But that won't be much comfort if you really have to be in the UK on that day.

I have found Saudia to be mostly on time but every now and then they've been an hour or two late. Also, a number of the domestic arrivals at RUH are bused in rather than using a loading bridge. That can add another 10 minutes or so to your transfer time.

If you want maximum peace of mind you'll want to go for the 5-hour connection. The only thing is RUH is a dull dull dull place to hang around for long. If you're in business and you have lounge access that might help. Saudia was building a new international lounge but I'm not sure if it's done yet.

It's a tricky call but I would lean toward the longer connection.

Thanks arabiamark for all of your advice.

It is very much appreciated.

I have changed my flight for the longer connection just to be on the safe side.

Unfortunately I am not travelling business but I read somewhere that it is possible to purchase lounge access for about 40 riyals?? not sure if that is true?

Anyway I will update my experience once I am back so that other can benefit.

I'm not totally sure but I've heard and I've read that it's possible to pay into Saudia lounges. I'm not sure how much it would be but I'm pretty sure that it would be more than 40 riyals, probably more like 100 or more. It may be possible to get in with certain credit cards or priority pass, if you have it.

One piece of good news is that the new lounge for Saudia in Terminal 2 (international departures), appears to be open:

http://www.saudiairlines.com/portal/...00d59618acRCRD

Another option is the lounge in Terminal 1, the foreign airlines terminal. It's connected airside to T2. Last year, just after this lounge had opened, I had to pay to get in. Even though I was in business my airline hadn't yet arranged for access. It was 160 riyals then. I'm not sure about now. Again, certain cards may get you in for free. It's a just ok lounge with just ok seating and not so good food.