[Anonymous]

[hmasurg]

Saudi Arabian Airlines (SV) sends it’s single aisle A320 to many European destinations including Frankfurt, Geneva, Milan, Madrid and Paris. This fact is disappointing as in general one should not expect much since an airline usually can not present it’s best on smaller aircraft.

Business class check in was dirty and not organized with unprofessional looking SV staff at Riyadh, it took much time to check in and overall nothing different than if it were economy class (no online check in for international flights at the time – just recently they have started allowing online check in for some regional international flights).

Boarding was on time but not organized and certainly not prioritized for premier class passengers.

The greeting was standard nothing different than economy class. The flight supervisor did not have his tie tied up nicely, looked as if he hasn’t slept well the night before and was indifferent. (later on in the flight the Business class was about 40% empty and he took his time to sit and sleep in one of the seats to his leisure). The female FA assigned to the Business cabin was nicer, but not attentive, just doing her job.

The Seats were magenta green leather, recliner with foot rests and nice seat pitch. But my foot rest didn’t operate easily. There are seat power supply which would cut off at random.

Amenities offered included an AIGNER travel kit with the usual eye covers, socks, ND stickers and some lotions. The container itself was a small bag that was acceptable. Noise reduction masks marked as if it is for First class (I assume they use the same for F class equipped aircraft). Local newspapers were offered, but no special world/local magazines. There was only the In flight magazine, safety card and IFE giude.

IFE: each seat has an adequate sized (perhaps 9-10 inch) PTV but on this flight there was absolutely no programming including the flight information and map). FA was clueless about this issue when I asked and he just responded “they must have not uploaded from riyadh”. No apology was said.

Food/Drink: No menus were given before the meal service. Juices and common drinks were offered before the meal (presented in a tray). Breakfast included below average ingredients and not very fresh fruits. The bread selection was good but hard and not really warm. The dish itself was in a TV dinner plate, little amount and not Delicious (could have been for economy class). Before landing drinks and a snack plate of h’derves and a basic chocolate cake were given.. much better but not enough.

Arrival on time.

A short video of this flight is available on my channel on YT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8u5W29OYOA

SV has gone bad since it’s years of excellence in the 70’s-80’s. The Food is well bellow average, FA’s inattentive and of basic abilities in communication and service. Ground staff at all Saudi airports are terrible. With their new aircraft (A320, A330, A321 and soon 777-300ER) operation and frequency have improved but still much to go to provide adequate air travel in the Kingdom and abroad. Many steps have been taken to improve the overall service and standing of SV on the world stage, but they are not really getting the nack for good quality service (as neighboring world class airlines).

VERDICT: If travelling domestically SV would be OK (actually there are not a lot of choices) but for international flights I would strongly suggest one studies other options carefully and only choose SV if price, timing, frequency, FFP is found to be more beneficial – Never expect much.

[jet72uk]

hmasurg why bother with SV on intl flights when u cant even have booze? I personally wouldn’t fund the pockets of the national airline of the most barbaric country on the planet anyway.

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