The Saudia AlFursan Lounge in Jeddah (JED) is a beautiful lounge with delicious food, kind service, and excellent amenities, but one huge drawback…
Saudia AlFursan Business Lounge Jeddah Review (JED)
I spent almost eight hours in this lounge during my journey from Tunis to Kuala Lumpur via Jeddah on Saudia.
Access + Hours + Location
The lounge is located in Terminal 1 of King Abdulaziz International Airport on the upper level. Well-posted signage directs you to the lounge from anywhere in the terminal.
It is open 24/7 and available to Saudia business class passengers as well as SkyTeam Elite Plus members departing on an international Skyteam flight (plus one guest). This is not a Priority Pass lounge.
There are two sides to the lounge, a first class and business class side. The focus of this review will be on the business class side. The first class side (available to Alfursan Gold and first class passengers) offers the same amenities as the business class side, but also a la carte dining.
Seating
This is a grand lounge worthy of Saudia’s largest hub. It felt like the Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul with a wide assortment of seating throughout the lounge including chairs, couches, tables, large dining area, and an “atrium hall” with a grand piano and trees near the entrance.
As you can see, the lounge was almost empty when I arrived, though as we approached the midnight departure bank the lounge filled up.
There was also a TV room with recliners that could be used for resting (if you are able to tune out the noise from the television…).
Plugs are plentiful and there are iPads available for use with inernet.
Sleeping Area
A more formal “slumber room” area included an individual room (no doors) with a daybed…with blankets and pillows available upon request.
Duty Free
The lounge had its own duty free shop.
Newspapers + Magazines
While the lounge has a few physcila magaines (mostly promoting Saudi Arabia) digital magazines and newspapers are available via the lounge’s wi-fi network.
Meeting Room
A single meeting room is availble near the lounge entrance.
Food + Drink
The highlight of this lounge is the wide selection of food and drinks available, including a large buffet (with Western and Middle Eastern food), an omelet station, a pizza oven, a salad bar, and a chocolatier/dessert area.
Main buffet:
I would have liked to have seen more local dishes like Kabsa, Mandi, Saleeg, and Haneeth…but the selection was reasonable.
Salad bar:
Al-Forno station (pizza and burgers):
Dessert bar:
In terms of beverages, this is a dry lounge…no alcohol is served…but there is a barista coffee bar, soft drinks, mocktails, juice, and alcohol-free beer available.
Lockers
Lockers are available to store your carry-on bags during your lounge stay. You can secure your belongings in the locker by choosing a four-digit passcode.
Restrooms + Showers
Restrooms and showers are available.
Smoking Area
The lounge has gender-segregated smoking rooms just past the reception desks before entering the main part of the lounge.
Nanny’s Room
A nanny’s room includes a mobile cradle and is intended to be a secluded place to change diapers/nappies.
Children’s Room
Next door, a children’s room offers a small area for youngsters to stay busy during their lounge stay.
Prayer Room
Next to the smoking area is a gender-segregated prayer and ablution area. Out of respect for those who were praying inside, I did not step into take any pictures.
Game Room
A game room included a pool table.
Internet
Finally, I’ll end on a low note. While the lounge space and amenities are excellent, the internet was unbearably slow. I had planned to work for most of my eight-hour layover but found work nearly impossible thanks to the terrible wi-fi speeds (both the lounge network and the airport network were terrible). This is a huge and unacceptable shortcoming to this lounge…please Saudia, please fix this!
CONCLUSION
The internet issue aside, this is a very nice lounge and very fitting of a hub lounge for a carrier that is trying to compete with Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar. I loved the warm service, delicious food nad beverages, and space to spread out in this lounge. It’s not a bad place even with a very long layover.
Happy Holidays ! I look forward to your great posts in 2025
+1
The equivalent facility in RUH is much smaller and less luxurious and lacks bathroom facilities (there’s a toilet nearby but it’s still outside the lounge), but the food and the internet were more than adequate.
I also spent some time in the domestic JED lounge whose design is rather similar. Food was good, but there was no barista available. The internet was also working fine there, so perhaps you were unfortunate and just visited on a bad day.