Welcome to my 2nd part of my Saudia's Flying Adventure!
My ride: HZ-AR12
For the flight to London, I decided to fly to Gatwick as I have flown to Heathrow far too many times and besides the last time I flew in and out of this airport was more than 10 years ago so its time to find out how much as changed to this airport. At this point of time, the airline doesn't fly daily on the JED-LGW route but luckily for me it flew on the date I selected and also the smaller version of the 787 (-9 series) operated on this flight so that means I get to fly on the airline's Boeing 787-9 and -10, that's a good combo if you ask me.
The timing of arrival into London Gatwick was around noon time and that is perfect for me because I could head down to my sister's apartment to meet up with my mum before heading over to my accommodation at Becontree station, which is along the district line at the far east of London. Later on I discovered that the time taken to travel from Gatwick Airport to my sister's place was faster than travelling from Heathrow to her place near Tower Hill Station. I took the Themeslink train from the airport to Blackfriar station which then I changed to the district line to Tower hill, I find this way more convenient. Maybe I might use Gatwick Airport more often.
Since the first flight was full due to the Ramanda period with many Muslims flying to Saudi Arabia for their religious practice, was my second flight to London Gatwick as pack as the first flight? Do read on to find out.
A brief history of Saudia Airlines
Saudia is the national carrier of Saudi Arabia with its main hub at Jeddah Airport and also secondary hubs at Medina, Dammam and Riyadh. However once Riyadh Air is established, by 2030, Saudia will vacate the Riyadh hub to allow the newly launched airline to dominate the market over there. This airline was formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines and around the end of May 2012, the airline rebranded to its former brand name, Saudia which was used many years ago before it was known as Saudi Arabian Airlines. At that time, the airline also entered the Skyteam alliance as part of its rebranding initiative.
In Septemeber 2023, the airline announced a brand and livery rebrand and you can see here the difference in the liveries as shown below.
This is the airline's old livery
Photo: N94504
This is the new livery
Owners: Saudia Group
- Core Airlines: Sauda (Full Service) and Flyadeal (Low Cost)
- Subsidiaries: Saudia Cargo, Saudia Technic, Saudia Catering and Saudia Private Aviation
Alliance for Saudia: Skyteam
About Jeddah Airport
This airport is also known as King Abdulaiziz International Airport is one of the major international airport located in Jeddah and is considered one of the busiest airports in the Middle East due to the annual Haji pilgrimage. This airport was opened in 1981 and was built to replace the previous airport located in Al-Kandarah. The founder of Saudi Arabia, King Abdulaziz was named after this airport.
Currently, Saudia, Flynas and Flyadeal are the main operators of this airport and this airport operates 3 terminals: Haji Terminal, Terminal 1 and North Terminal. With 3 parallel runways in operation at this airport, this airport also shares its airfield with RSAF King Abdullah Air Base with its own royal terminal.
The 3 parallel runways are designated as 16L/34R, 16C/34C and 16R/34L.
Map layout of Jeddah Airport (Photo:Airport's website)
My Airside Experience @ Jeddah Airport
I had only an hour and a half to spend on transit at this airport.
Duty free shops
Eateries are on the next level.
The departure hall
The mixture of bright white lighting with the blue hue lighting on the escalator in the background, what do you think?
I am not a fan of the blue hue and avoided the escalator for this very reason.
The wavey ceiling design certainly caught my attention.
There are plenty of seats near the gate area with limited charging ports.
I am glad the security check is done after immigration.
This is the far end of the pier with many seats available.
I spent a short time resting over here.
Saudia's Boeing 787 aircraft including one with the latest special livery.
My first impression thoughts
It's a nice airport to transit, with a modern looking interior, I find it pleasant. For those who need to do some work or use the social medila, you be pleased to know there is complimentary airport wifi but the connection can be spotty at certain parts of the terminal at least from my experience. Other than that, my time there was a pleasant one.
Time to board the aircraft!
The walk to our aircraft took a while.
A sneak peak of our aircraft.
First glimpse of HZ-AR12!
The nose of the Boeing 787
Almost there!
I am certainly a fan of this old livery.
My ride: HZ-AR12
(Photo: Diego Rui de Vargas)
Route: JED- LGW
Kilometre: 4715
Average Flight Time: 6 hours
Airlines Flying On This Route: WizzAir and Saudia
My seat: 52A (Photo: Aerolopa.com )
Date of departure: 12th February 2025
Airline: Saudia
Flight: SV101
Route: JED-LGW
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9
Registration: HZ-AR12
Departure Terminal: 1
Seat: 52A
Class: Economy
Gate: A37
Load: Around 50% in Y Class
Flight Time: 6 hours
Actual Flight Time: 5 hours 52 minutes
Schedule Departure: 0825
Boarding: 0742
Push Back: 0830
Take Off: 0844
Schedule Arrival: 1200
Actual Arrival: 1136
Departure Runway: 34C
Departure Weather: Partially Cloudy
Arrival Runway: 28L
Arrival Weather: Cloudy
My departure experience
Boarding took place a bit late considering this is a wide-body and I wasn't surprised when we pushed back about 5 minutes behind schedule. What I like about this flight is that I have the whole row to myself, luckily the passenger sitting on the aisle seat move to a vacant row so most of us in the rear cabin had a row to ourselves, quite a difference comparing to my previous flight.
For the flight announcements, they were only made by the cabin crew as the flight crew decided to go radio silence on this flight. So we had no idea about the weather on route and on arrival, come on, you pilots, it would be great to hear from you at least once, update us on the weather the very least! Anyway, we hit a bit of turbulence while flying over Pteria (Greece) but other than that, it was smooth for most parts of the journey. As for the inflight service, it was quite similar to the previous flight, the lack of warmth and friendliness of the crew was quite obvious.
For the inflight entertainment, I spent most of the time on the Inflight entertainment screen while stretching my legs and on occasions, enjoyed the beautiful mother nature has to offer while relaxing in my "mini suite". As for the meal quality, it was not bad, slightly better than the previous flight.
Another thing I like about this flight is the fantastic view we get to enjoy while on route to London Gatwick but for the weather near UK, it was as dreadful as it gets with the typical grey and depressing weather greeted us while we were descending and landed at London Gatwick. Overall it was a pleasant flight and I had a good rest on board however my baggage didn't follow me on this aircraft, do read on at the last part of the trip report to find out how the airline dealt with the baggage delay issue.
Welcome on board!
Business Class
Photo: Live and Let's Fly (Matthew Klint)
For the detailed trip report of this class, do check out Live and Let' Fly's version over here.
Economy Class
(This trip report)
There are 274 Collin Aerospace Pinnacle seats configured in a 3-3-3 arrangement.
- 32 inches of legroom space
- 17.1 inches of seat width
- The standard seats can recline up to 3 inches
- Adjustable headrest
- 9 inches of HD Touchscreen Display
- Universal Power and USB-A sockets are available
The bulkhead row of seats usually offer better legroom space.
The cover seats have that crumpled look like how you see them on a men's or women's shirt when they are not ironed.
Personally I am not a fan of these cream coloured seats.
I am familiar with these seats as the Boeing 787-10 on my previous flights also use the same seats as this aircraft.
For a daytime flight, window seat is as must for me!
Fortunately for us, the electronic dimmed windows were not locked by the crew.
The last row of the economy class seats in the front cabin.
This is the rear cabin of the economy class.
This is my window seat, 52A.
The rear view of the cabin from my seat.
This aircraft also has the section for praying located near the rear of the cabin.
The view of the last few rows of the left side of the economy class.
The overview economy class of the rear cabin
That's me enjoying the flight with my new Airbus A350 T-shirt!
The rear view of the cabin after the flight.
The side view of the cabin
Time to disembark the aircraft!
The first 2 rows of the economy class cabin
From these photos, what do you all think about the cabin?
They are not the newest products and I won't be surprised if they launch new economy class seats in the near future.
More photos of the seat
Legroom space is 32 inches, not too bad for my legs.
Whole row to myself!
A lady had already made herself comfortable before departure but she was told to sit upright until after take off.
Bi-foldable tray table
Completely unfold
The selection of movies
This is the older IFE system compared to the 787-10, and also comes with the remote control.
The touchscreen display is responsive and there is no need for the remote control.
Universal AC socket is located near the foot of the seat.
Adjustable headrest
One last look of my seat
What's provided for each passenger?
Blanket
Pillow
Disposal Bag
Safety Card
A wet towel was distributed to us before departure.
Earphone - decent quality.
A beautiful amenity kit
A bottle of water
Amenity kit and a bottle of water were distributed at the same time.
I chose a cup of apple juice for the first beverage service.
I choice the chicken option and it was not bad. That comes with a bread, a cup of yogurt, a small container of fruits, a bottle of water, condiments and my choice of beverage.
Later on, I chose a cup of coffee to enjoy the morning flight out of Jeddah.
We were given a snack box containing pizza about less than 2 hours prior to arrival at London Gatwick.
This Pizza brand seems familar as I had it before with another airline, I just can't remember which airline!
Inflight Entertainment
9 inches of IFE screen display
Remote control
Keyboard with game console buttons
The reeommended movies
Choice of movies are not bad but as not intensive as Qatar or Emirates.
Safety Video
A short religious pray is played before the flight.
Inflight Wifi
Notice the price to use the WiFi? This has to be most expensive deal I have seen. US$50 for 200MB of allowance usage.
This is the flight information but there is one problem, I am on flight SV101 not SV123!
The flight map
We were reaching London Gatwick, following the ATC's instruction to land at LGW airport.
Lavatory
Clean condition.
This lavatory has definitely seen better days.
That's me enjoying the flight!
Window view (Take off to Landing)
A race between Airbus and Bus?
Our aircraft was still being refueled and for those wondering why must we not fasten our seat belt at this time? Well because if there is a fire on board, without the seat belt fasten, you are able to exit the aircraft without delay.
Another Airbus vs Bus race!
On our way to runway 34C for departure.
Passing by the airport traffic control tower.
We had to made a few turns to get into the main taxiway.
Soon we reached the threshold of runway 34C.
Turning into the active runway.
Off we go!
We lifted off gracefully into the clear blue skies!
Our aircraft was quite light as we took off quite early and also knowing later that we took off without my baggage!
These are the Haji terminals.
The city of Jeddah from the distance
Flying past residential area.
That's why I like flying, you get to see beautiful views like this.
I am glad to have experience Saudi Arabia even for a short layover.
The flex wings of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
One last look of the country!
We were flying over the sea, heading towards Greece.
Some beautiful views along the way.
We were blessed with clear skies for most parts of our flight path.
Meal service began at this point and I was slightly distracted because of views like this.
Flying over water once again.
This part is interesting as we flew over the snowy mountains.
Beautiful isn't it? Unfortunately we were facing the sun at this point.
Whatever it is, I got to enjoy the view!
We flew for quite sometime passing over these snowy mountains.
Usually when I fly over in the middle east towards Europe, it would be cloudy but not on this day.
I managed to spot an aircraft during my enjoyment of the view. It looks like an Airbus, what do you think?
About an hour before arrival, we were flying over cloudy conditions.
We started descending at this point.
Getting ready to fly through the clouds.
We flew these clouds but it was hardly turbulent.
Look at how low the clouds are.
Almost out of the clouds in this dull looking weather.
We were on final approach onto LGW's runway 26L.
Would you like to guess how many vehicles are there in the photo below?
Jet2.com is an airline I am keen to try, watch this space!
I had a good view of the airport while we were taxiing to our assigned gate.
The airport traffic control tower at LGW.
We parked besides an Easyjet Airbus A320.
It is nice to be able to experience taxiing underneath the overhead bridge of London Gatwick airport.
The view from our parking lot.
My flight summary
Welcome to London Gatwick Airport!
This is London Gatwick North Terminal.
It was a nice walking exercise after the 6 hours flight.
At this point, I received the text message and what I should I have done is to look for the airline staff and report about the baggage delay. Instead, I went over to the airline's check-in counter to speak to the manager and after filling up some paperwork, I was on my way. I was promised by the manager that my luggage would come within 24 hours.
It was weird to walk out without my baggage.
This is the check-in desk for Easyjet, I went in search to find Saudia's.
Once I completed the report of my baggage claim, I made my way out and headed towards my sister's place.
I had to take the airport train to South Terminal.
From the train station, some walking is required to reach the South Terminal.
We reached the terminal south.
Terminal South is connected to the train station.
I purchased the one-way ticket to Blackfriars station.
This is the Themeslink train which transported me to Blackfriars station.
Baggage Delayed Incident
After touching down at London Gatwick Airport, I received a SMS notification about the baggage delay and the airline would send the luggage to me on the next flight. It didn't state which flight would it be on as the airline also flies to London Heathrow. Later on I did a check, SV100 was not operating on the following day and I was hoping that it would be put on the flight to London Heathrow either that day or the latest by the following day. However that didn't happen and there was no further notification from the airline until few days later. Luckily for me, I had the airtag placed in my luggage and I knew exactly where was it. I did inform the airline about it but there was absolutely nothing they can do about it unless I contacted the staff in charge in which they didn't disclose how to contact him/her.
As you can see, it was 3 days later only then my baggage was sent to me. Before that I had no idea when I would receive my baggage, I went ahead to buy essential items such as toothbrush, clothings...etc to cope for at least a few days, my mistake was not to put in a few clothings in my haversack or carry-on baggage just in case but because it was full with presents therefore they were all packed inside the check-in baggage, luckily my jacket was in my carry-on baggage. Initially I was thinking of checking in both baggages, thanks goodness I didn't do that!
My luggage had an unexpected 2 days of layover at Jeddah Airport.
It was then placed on the Gatwick flight 2 days after my original flight. To the airline: Please don't promise the customer that the luggage will be sent within 24 hours if you cannot deliver. This is what your ground staff mentioned to me at LGW airport on the arrival.
Once the luggage arrived in LGW, it stayed for one day and I messaged to the X (Twitter) team whether I could go down to the airport to collect the luggage as there were essential items I needed to use. However, that request was turned down and I had to wait until the 5th day before finally receiving it, and it was delivered to my sister's apartment.
From my observation according to the airtag (find my app), my luggage was stored at LGW airport for a day or slightly longer before it was sent to London Heathrow airport, mostly like it joined the other delayed luggages at the airport to consolidate them into one vehicle and then the delivery company would sent them all out to the respective passenger's addresses. According to the text message, my luggage was supposed to be delivered within a time frame but it came 20 minutes late. Better late than never!
For those wondering why I messaged to the X (Twitter) team is because of their fast response comparing to email or phone call to the airline.
There are the essential items I purchased from Primark.
At least they bother to update me but the process was slow and I had to do my homework for myself to find out where my luggage was.
With the Saudia's team on X (Twitter) not much of the help, I sent a few emails to the airline directly regarding this issue and seek compensation for the delay but I was dismissed without any reason given and the case was closed without my agreement! What kind of service recovery is this?
Although I received my undamaged luggage, it took them the 4th day to do so and furthermore my luggage arrived unlocked and it was quite obvious that it was opened for inspection but the worst thing is there wasn't any notification from the airline regarding this. Fortunately, nothing was removed.
So now, I share with you what happened and you decide for yourself regarding this matter. Don't you think those affected in this situation deserved some form of compensation, is that unreasonable to ask? Not even reimbursement for the items I purchased, I think this sums everything up. These few days of waiting had caused anxiety and frustration but at least, I received the luggage without damage or anyhing inside stolen. However, this incident has left me with a very poor impression of the airline and I have developed trust issues with the airline after this incident. I did consider cancelling my return flight and book with another airline home but after much consideration, I decided to fly back with this airline and for the luggage check-in for the return flight, I decided to rearrange my items, placing the more important ones in both my carry-on luggage and haversack instead and of course I didn't check in my carry-on luggage and have it with me along with the haversack. Once bitten, twice shy! Did history repeat itself on the return flight? Stay tuned for the part 3 of my Saudi Airlines flying adventure.
Luckily for me, my travel insurance settled this for me. So do remember to get one before your travel! You never know when you need it.
Here is the photo of my baggage
My ratings
(40% of the total score is deducted due to the poor service recovery due to the luggage issue)
Airline Website/Mobile App: 4/5
Airport Experience (Jeddah): 3/5
Inflight Service: 3/5
Seat Comfort: 4/5
Inflight Entertainment: 3/5
Cabin Ambiance: 4/5
Cabin Condition: 5/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
Inflight Meal/Beverage: 3/5
Punctuality: 5/5
Total Score: 39/50
Score deducted due to the poor service recovery: 16 (Estimated)
Actual Score: 23/50
Percentage: 46% (Disappointing)
My final thoughts
The last time my baggage was delayed by the airline, this happened many years ago. I remember that the airline bothered to communicate and gave us a voucher to compensate for the delay and that should be the way if you want to regain the trust of the travellers especially traveller flying on your airline for the first time. With strong competition from Dubai and Doha, the last thing you want to do is provide a lousy or non existence service recovery. While things can happen such as this scenario, it's up to the airline management to provide a protocol for the staff to manage and communicate with the affected passengers, to ensure that everything goes smoothly. For my scenario, I felt neglected by the airline and thought that the management didn't care about my situation and possibly others. I won't exactly say I was furious but I was certainly anxious and disappointed with the situation especially coming from an established airline.
Whatever it is, this incident overshadowed the pleasant flight I had on this second leg. The economy class cabin on this flight was about half full with many vacant seats especially in the second cabin of the economy class and that made my flying experience more pleasant and enjoyable especially comparing to the first flight. In fact, this flight is certainly one of the lightest loads among all my flights to London whether it is to Gatwick and Heathrow. Now the question is how did my baggage along with others (probably inside a container) fail to make it onto this aircraft?
For this flight, it was certainly better due to less passengers on board and therefore the inflight service was faster and also with more space for my legs, i managed to grab a few hours of sleep. Inflight service and meals were alright, I have no complaints. Unfortunately the bad news came in after landing and I had to deal without my baggage for a few days. The worst thing about this whole experience is the airline management handling of my matter, not willing to compensate and reimburse for my expenses for the few days days without my luggage is just too much. Nobody deserves to be treated this way whether you are flying in economy or business class.
For my final thoughts of my flying adventures with this airline, stay tuned for the part 4 to be published soon.
A preview to my next trip report
Coming up next!
Thanks for reading and have a good one!
With that said, the journey continues - see you in my next blog post!
Charles Ryan
For the part 1 of Saudia Airlines trip report, click here.
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