I enjoyed a delightful flight from Tunis to Jeddah onboard a Saudia regional Airbus A330-3oo in business class. The service and food onboard were superb.
Saudia A330-300 Business Class Review (TUN-JED)
As part of the SAS Million Mile challenge, we flew from Paris to Tunis on Air France to take advantage of a cheap Sauia fare to travel to East Asia in business class for the price of an economy class ticket directly from Europe. My ticket was 800.76 USD, while (8-year-old) Augustine’s ticket was only 649.76 USD.
Our Air France flight pulled up right next to the Saudia A330 that would transport us to Jeddah.
We had a bit of a check-in snafu at the transit desk in Tunis, but we made it, and I suspect the transfer desk sees very few people traveling to Saudia (versus flag carrier Tunisair).
After a delectable cup of coffee in the Tunisair lounge, we boarded our flight to Jeddah, with business class passengers invited to board first (even ahead of those who needed extra time to board).
Saudia 366
Tunis (TUN) – Jeddah (JED)
Tuesday, November 19
Depart: 11:30 AM
Arrive: 6:55 PM
Duration: 04hr, 25min
Distance: 2,023 miles
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Seat: 16J (Business Class)
As we walked down the jetbridge, Saudia security officials (male flight attendants who serve both roles) were standing at the aircraft door ready to check carry-on baggage, though we were simply waived on to board and turned left into business class.
Service
Almost immediately after boarding, we were warmly greeted by Ishaq, the cabin manager (purser). He set the tone for the flight and he and his crew took excellent care of us on the four-hour flight to Saudi Arabia.
The crew was gracious and attentive…and also present, which I appreciated so much. Drink refills were offered during the flight and I loved that Ishaq did not only sit back and watch as his cabin staff worked but took an active part in the service itself.
It is my understanding that Saudia male flight attendants are all Saudi while female flight attendants hail from Northern Africa, the Levant, and East Asia.
Speaking of service, Arabic coffee and dates were served prior to takeoff and it was Augustine’s first time trying Arabic coffee…he did not like it, though I’m so glad he was willing to try it.
Seat
Saudia will embark on an A330 retrofit project next year, but for now still has “regional” seats on much of its A330-300 fleet that do not recline into a fully lie-flat bed. The 2-2-2 seating is not idea for solo travelers, but worked well for my son and me.
Business class features 36 seats and business class has a whopping 54 inches of pitch with a seat that is 18.8 inches wide. Recline is generous, but by no means approaches lie-flat.
In addition to the recline, a footrest popped out, though it only went up about 45º.
Seats were controlled by a panel on the armrest. The armrest also had additional seat cushion controls (including massage) under the armrest (where the tray table was located) and also a passenger service unit (remote control) for the IFE system.
An excellent blanket (soft, warm, but light) and a decent pillow were placed on each seat.
The center console included a universal A/C outlet, USB-A outlet, and headphone jack at knee level.
Individual air nozzles were available in the overhead passenger service unit.
Of course, I was ecstatic to be back in business class after so much coach travel in the prior days, but Augustine was as well and after a short night and early morning flight to Tunis, it was nice just to relax on this flight. The cabin went out about half full.
IFE + Wi-Fi
I remember the first time I flew Saudia the movies were so censored that even Scarlett O’Hara’s (Vivien Leigh’s) cleavage from the 1939 Gone With The Wind film was blurred out…and yet there were several films full of violence that were not edited.
This time, I noted the selection of movies was poor and not current (same with TV programming), but I did not watch anything anyway (but I saw Daddio was one of the choices…what’s left after you edit that for content?). Games and audio were also available, as well as a moving flight map.
I just ended up listening to music…
The noise-cancelling headphones worked well.
Wi-Fi was also available for purchase, though the pricing was outrageous–50 USD for 200 MB. No. Thank. You. Messaging was free…for 15 minutes.
There were nice views out the window as well during this daytime service:
Food + Drink
Lunch was served after takeoff and was a feast! Saudia offers an a la carte menu in business class with dine-on-demand service, though both Augustine and I ate early in the flight.
Hot towels were offered before takeoff.
Menus were also distributed:
Augustine had chicken and vegetable tagine (with couscous, figs, courgettes, butternut squash, chickpeas, and raisins) while I had the “Saudia Sufrah” menu, featuring slow-roasted sea bass kabsa. Warm mixed nuts were served first.
My lunch:
Augustine’s lunch:
Wow, my sea bass was a delicious dish! Both were actually. I loved that meals were served directly on our tray tables and a tray was not used, which marks an elevated level of quality in business class.
The sides were also excellent, particularly the date pudding!
I rounded out the meal with a delicious single-origin coffee (Sumatra). It was supposed to have been served in a French Press, but I understood it was made in one. So good, and served with Patchi chocolate (a Lebanese chocolatier).
Saudia is a dry airline but I appreciated there was an extensive selection of coffee, tea, juices, and even mocktails. Augustine had fresh orange juice and I had lemon – mint juice. Bottles of water were also placed at each seat.
Lavatory
The lavatory had seen better days…it was clean, but looked quite worn out.
CONCLUSION
We landed in Jeddah on schedule, where we faced a very long layover. This was a very pleasant flight with a delicious meal and warm service onboard. It made me even more excited for my longhaul to Kuala Lumpur on the 787-9 that would come next. Even with the outdated seats, this was a very comfortable four-hour daytime flight.
Wow, that wasn’t even a two hour connection. I didn’t even consider that AF flight, preferring instead to get the one getting there just before midnjght and spend €70 to stay in the local Ibis to get a more or less full night’s sleep. Did you have a plan B in case this went wrong?
Even if the political stuff is super awkward, I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed my flights on Saudia, and indeed I was blown away by the onboard experience on the JED-RUH domestic (I got that as the RUH flight was arriving much earlier into BKK, allowing for an easy connection to VN) which must have been the best 2-hour flight I have ever experienced.
Did you have to buy the pricey Saudi tranist visa?
I nearly did, because the SV website was only going to issue me with a free one if I purchased a single connection, then discovered that UK passport holders can get an Electronic Visa Waiver for $40 and cracked on with that!
50 USD for 200 MB?! Allah that’s expensive. What are they thinking?
Typo in your kid’s name
Malt Beverage = Estrella Damm = Beer ?
Do they serve the non-alcoholic version of Estrella Damm? As far I know they do have that version and it’s called Estrella Damm N.A. (NA = Non-Alcoholic)
It’s non-alcholic.
6:95 pm???? That’s some alien time zone dude!
Yikes.
The medical outlet may be power suitable for onboard use of approved medical devices. I know some US airlines at least prohibit use of regular passenger power outlets for medical devices (usually they require the device use battery power only while onboard). I think that’s because they cannot guarantee uninterrupted power on the regular outlets and decline to take on liability in case your medical device suffers a power glitch or outage.
That’s correct. Seat power can’t be guaranteed to be uninterrupted or maintain a certain voltage.
Some long haul carriers (generally non-US) have outlets for medical power that is off main aircraft power. Usually will require some sort of converter or at minimum approval by airline’s engineering department in advance as aircraft power is 115 Volts at 400 Hz since it can run with smaller components. Some more recent like 787 may have such plugs at standard ground power voltage – though this may vary depending on home base of the airline. 120V/60Hz is US standard but same as you run into in hotels, may face like 230V/50Hz.
Did you use your left hand to clean yourself in the lavatory?
@matthew- can you please tell me the age limit for the discounted child ticket? Can it be booked online? Are there other origination points besides Tunisia with that pricing to Kuala Lampur( or destinations other than KL) Thank you!
I booked it on Orbitz – not sure the age limit.
I believe that the industry standard for child fares is ages 2-12 inclusive (i.e. until a day before the 13th birthday).
I just took the same flight toi TUN-JED-SIN but loved the 787-10 For the second segment.
The A330 is quite old , was sitting in seat 2L
I am dual Citizen and Tun is my home country but Airport isn’t perfect and there is a lot to improve from Fast Track lines to Quick Xray scanning.
I flew 787-9 for my connection (review on Monday) and I really was impressed.
Happy that you enjoyed your flight on Saudia; the food looks great.