After a couple of days in Riyadh, it was time to fly to Jeddah. I chose Saudia for this flight as it wasn't too much more expensive than the budget options once I added a checked bag, and I figured I might get some SkyTeam benefits from my ITA Airways status. This was a paid economy class ticket with a 7pm departure time.
The RUH-JED route is clearly a popular one as Saudia literally has a flight every hour - including during the night. Flyadeal and Flynas also have regular service.
My flight was on a Boeing 777-300ER, but Saudia uses pretty much every one of its aircraft types on this route connecting the airline's two hubs, which are also Saudi Arabia's two largest cities.
Check-in in Terminal 5, a new building which handles most domestic flights, was super efficient. I was able to use the fast-track line as my ITA status was still recognised as SkyTeam Elite Plus back when I took this flight in late January. (ITA has since left SkyTeam.)
There were airline staff checking everyone's hand luggage at the entrance to the security checkpoint. I thought that was quite smart - it prevents people taking excess baggage to the gate, and doing it before security means that people still have an opportunity to return to the counter to check in excess bags.
I half expected that the security queues would be split into male and female lines, but this was not the case.
At the time I took this flight, SkyTeam Elite Plus status did not get you into lounges on purely domestic itineraries. I thought I'd try my luck with the Saudia lounge, but nope - was rejected at the door.
This rule changed on 1 April 2025, so if you're flying this route in the future and have SkyTeam Elite Plus status (from an airline other than ITA), you would be allowed in.
I instead used Priority Pass to get into the Hayyak Lounge. This was fine - probably not as nice as Saudia's lounge but had comfortable chairs and an OK buffet. Tea, Arabic coffee, soft drinks and water were also available.
A call to prayer was played over the loudspeakers in the lounge at the relevant time.
For this flight, Saudia had set up two completely separate boarding gates for business class and economy. At the somewhat chaotic economy boarding gate, the staff did a good job - against all odds - of enforcing the boarding zones. I had zone 1 boarding through my SkyTeam status.
On board, Saudia has a 3-3-3 layout in economy with fairly comfortable leather seats and decent legroom. This is one of the more spacious economy layouts out there, although not
quite as comfortable as the likes of SQ or JL. It occurred to me that it's quite unusual to see leather seats on a 777.
There was a seatback in-flight entertainment screen at every seat.
We started boarding early, but the flight was delayed after boarding due to some issue that wasn't really explained in any detail.
Once we were ready to go, the crew announced that a prayer would play over the PA system. This wasn't just a quick, subtle prayer that you might not even notice if you don't speak Arabic, like on Emirates. It was quite a long and detailed prayer that went for over a minute and came with English subtitles on the IFE.
There were also a couple of pre-recorded announcements during the flight that we'd be soon flying over a place of religious significance, which each concluded with "May Allah accept all your kind deeds". These pre-recorded announcements were all in Arabic, followed by English.
Before take-off, the cabin crew handed out refresher towels and headphones. During the flight, we got the choice of a pizza or muffin. This came with a choice of drinks - tea, coffee, water, apple juice or pineapple juice.
The cabin crew seemed to be a mix of Saudi men and foreign women, which on this flight included crew from Montenegro, Croatia and the Philippines. (There was announcement before take-off advising of the languages spoken by the crew.)
Overall, the plane itself was fine and I think this could have been an enjoyable flight. But to be honest, I didn't really enjoy it - and that was mainly because of the passengers sitting around me.
This was a completely full flight and I was in a window seat...
- The guy sitting behind me kept grabbing my seat, and at one point even managed to hit my head while doing so
- The young bloke sitting next to me had two cabin bags at his feet for the entire flight (the crew did not ask him to put them under the seat in front or in a locker, so they were blocking the path to the aisle). He also didn't respect my personal space, made loud phone calls the entire time we were on the ground, and was coughing for the whole flight
- The lady in front of me reclined her seat all the way back right after take-off, and didn't bring it forward for the meal service or even for landing (nor did the crew instruct her to)
Eventually we arrived in Jeddah about an hour late, in what seemed to be a new and very modern terminal.
Once outside, I had no problems ordering a Careem to my hotel.
