Saudi Arabian Airlines, or Saudia Airlines, has recently introduced a new lie-flat Business Class seat on their B777 planes. In this trip report, I detail their new seat, which I experienced, not on a flight to or from Jeddah, but at the World Travel Market in London last week. While at the show, I also tried out the Saudia Airlines B777 First Class Seats.
Saudia is the national carrier airline of Saudi Arabia, based in Jeddah. You can fly in their new fully lie-flat Business Class seats on all of their 777-300R planes, both for long and short-haul travel.
Saudia flies to over 80 cities in Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America from its hubs of Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Medina, and Abha. The top International Saudia destinations include Dubai, Cairo, Istanbul, London, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Paris, Washington, Beirut, and Amman.
The Saudia loyalty program is Alfursan, with almost 5 million members.
Saudia Airlines Cabin Arrangement & Seat
The cabin layout can be seen on this seat map and you will find six rows of 2-2-2 seats. The seats themselves have sand or camel-colored leather surface, plenty of storage, and a foot cubby for your feet when you lie flat.
The seats felt very comfortable to sit on, even for a long journey, although clearly, on this occasion, I was not actually flying.
Which Are the Best Business Class Seats On The Saudia Airlines B777?
From the seat map you can see that First Class is situated at the front of the cabin and Business Class is just behind, separated by the galley and toilets. Of note, there are 3 different plane layouts so the layout of the B777 you travel on may be slightly different, although the fundamentals of seat choice should remain the same.
My favorite Business Class seats are rows 15 and 16, even though 15 is slightly too close to the toilet and galley, so it may suffer from noise as passengers pass by and wait around and as air stewards prepare food.
However, these seats being at the front of the Business cabin, suffer the least noise from the airplane (noise is always marginally worse as you travel down the cabin from the front), and, as I like a view, the seats at the front offer a decent view without blockage from the wing which will happen further back in the cabin.
My preference is always to have a window, so I can see what is going on outside. Therefore A & L seats are the best for me. However, as a solo traveler, you may prefer the middle seats (which both have direct aisle access) or the aisle seats next to the window as these also have direct aisle access, although you may be climbed over on these seats if your window seat companion needs to get out. Window seats are blocked in by your neighbor when they are in bed mode and so an aisle seat next to the window involves being climbed over.
As a solo traveler, you don’t have to worry about ending up in one of the paired middle seats as there is a divider between seats which can be raised once the flight has taken off.
Which Are The Worst Business Class Seats On The Saudia Airlines B777?
For me, the seats in row 20 at the back of the cabin are the worst as they are directly over the wing and behind the Premium Economy, which are bulkhead seats that can provide space for baby bassinets, so you risk child noise in the seats at the back.
Conversely, if you are traveling in Premium Economy, you may prefer the bulkhead seats at the front of the Premium Economy cabin as these are likely to have more space.
The amenity kit in Business class is Salvatore Ferragamo with a toothbrush and toothpaste, eyeshades, earplugs, socks, a razor, a comb, and some Salvatore Ferragamo toiletries.
Conclusion
Saudia was recently rated by Skytrax as the world’s most improved airline, and their Business Class is good, although not the best when traveling in the Middle East. Qatar Airways wins this for their QSuite.
It is worth reading our 10 tips to find cheap long-haul Business Class flights for a way to save money on your next First, Business and even Premium Economy flight booking.
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