Welcome to my first flight for 2026!
This is my ride: HZ-AR26 (Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner)
Photo: Dimitri Steendijk
Before I get started with this report, let me share with you my flight adventures for this trip.
I have to decided to celebrate with my mum's birthday by taking her to Morocco and add a side trip to add another 2 more new airlines to my flight logbook. Since this is the first flight, I will compile the list of flights for my February Flying Adventures for 2026. Once they are completed, the link will be added, hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Photo: Greatcirclemap.com
SIN-JED (Saudia Boeing 787-10) This trip report
JED-LGW (Saudia Boeing 787-9) Coming up soon
LGW-CMN (RAM Boeing 737-800) Coming up soon
CMN-RAK (RAM Express ATR-72-600) Coming up soon
RAK-CMN (RAM Boeing 737-800) Coming up soon
CMN-LHR (RAM Boeing 737 MAX 8) Coming up soon
LHR-BRU (Brussels Airlines Airbus A320neo) Coming up soon
BRU-BIO (Brussel Airlines Airbus A320neo) Coming up soon
BIO-MAD (Air Europa Boeing 737-800) Coming up soon
MAD-LGW (Air Europa Boeing 737 MAX 8) Coming up soon
LGW-JED (Saudia Boeing 787-10) Coming up soon
JED-SIN (Saudia Boeing 737-10) Coming up soon
Introduction
I was considering which airlines would fly me to London on this trip and since I had done this route on both non stop and stop over flights, I like to try out a new airline and Saudia was my top choice for this trip. I like to see how good is this airline is today and whether it is as competitive as the top Middle Eastern Airlines such as Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates. Not only that, I could visit Jeddah Airport and have a good look at the airport. I took a good look at the airline's social media, I was intrigued by what was happening with a new livery (not exactly new), more on this in my trip report and checking the aircraft types, I get to fly on both the airline's Boeing 787-9 and 787-10. At this moment, the airline is flying 4 times weekly on the Jeddah-Singapore-Denpasar route and for the Singapore-Denpasar route, this is considered a 5th freedom route and the good news is this airline is allowed to sell tickets on this sector and same goes for those who wish to travel from Denpasar to Singapore.
So without further ado, let's begin this trip report.
Airline's mobile app
The app interface is not bad at all.
I was able to select my seat but in order to do so, I have to obtain the OTP from either my mobile phone or email to access the seat map keying in the digits required to access. It was troublesome! Unfortunately I had to use the email as the mobile phone option didn't work for me.
Although I booked the medium tier economy class, complimentary seat selection was limited to the second cabin of the economy class. The rest of the seats in the first cabin is chargable and I didn't want to pay over the odds for the seat selection.
I had a chance to make a bid for the upgrade but the price was not to my liking.
As you can see, the green seats are complimentary but for the blue seats (preferred seats), the airline was charging almost US$40 for it.
I wanted to sit in the first cabin, but no way am I going to pay that much for seat selection. I blame that airline for starting this trend of charging seats for lower tier economy class seats on these long haul routes. It is what it is, that's today's travel for us.
On the day of departure
I took the MRT to the airport
This is Changi Airport MRT Station.
Saudia departs from Terminal 3 in Changi Airport (April 2026 update), so this was where I was heading to.
There were a lot of passengers queueing up. Unfortunately no separate queue for web check-in passengers so I had to join the long queue.
It took about half an hour before receiving my boarding pass and my luggage was check-in to the London Gatwick. Unfortunately, something happened to my luggage and for that, you need to read about it on my part 2: Jeddah to London Gatwick sector.
That's me with my Airbus A350 T-shirt! I wanted to see whether any of the crew would react when they see it.
This is my ride: HZ-AR26, flying in from Denpasar.
Some decoration was spotted at the departure hall.
This is terminal 3 departure hall.
From time to time, we see different sorts of decoration making the visit to Changi Airport for some, interesting.
Overall, I find this terminal to be quite classy.
I received my boarding passes for both flights! This time I was flying to London Gatwick for a change.
At this point, I was ready to head over to the airside.
I grab some dinner at the Hawkers @SG at the airside.
This is the famous meat bone soup also known as 'Bak Kut Teh', a local popular dish.
I did another check on my aircraft, it was arriving soon with traffic quite heavy at SIN at that time.
This is the departure area (airside).
Walking to the gate may take some time from the main concourse.
This is one of the gates that can accommodate the Airbus A380 aircraft.
The interior of the gate area is quite dull looking if you ask me.
At least there are sitting areas for passengers waiting for the boarding gate to open.
To connect to terminal 4, take the bus shuttle over. I haven't done this before but I will one day.
Vening machine selling trading cards (hobby).
Time to board!
It's always nice to fly on a different airline! Saudia is my 130th airline.
Welcome on board!
My ride: HZ-AR26
Photo: Zhou You
Boeing 787-10
Delivered to airline on December 2019
Configuration: C24 Y333
Engines: 2 X GEnx 1B
Age: 6+ Years Old
942th Boeing 787 Built
Age: 6+ Years Old (April 2026 update)
Built in Charleston (CHS)
Flight Route: SIN-JED
Distance: 7,350km
Average Flight Time: 8 hours 40 minutes
Airlines flying on this route: Scoot and Saudia
My seat: 65J (Photo: Aerolopa.com)
Date of departure: 12th February 2026
Airline: Saudia airlines
Flight: SV857
Aircraft: Boeing 787-10
Registration: HZ-AR26
Seat: 59A last minute changed to 65J
Departure Terminal: 3
Gate: B10
Load: 100% in Y Class
Actual Flight Time: 8 hours 26 minutes
Flight Time: 8 hours 50 minutes
Schedule Departure: 0225
Boarding: 0137
Pushed Back: 0242
Take Off: 0312
Schedule Arrival: 0655
Actual Arrival: 0637
Departure Runway: 20C
Departure Weather: Clear
Arrival Runway: 34R
Arrival Weather: Clear
My experience
When I went through the entrance towards the automated immigration clearance, I was pulled aside to do a secondary screening. This is random and I am puzzled how do they select these passengers and why do they do need to do so, its either you screen all or you don't. It is annoying but that is what it is. Like I mentioned before I rather have the security check done either before or after the immigration. What I like about travelling out of Changi Airport is the fast immigration thanks to the automated machines and this one requires your face screening before being cleared to pass through, there is no need for passport check but one (local) has to bring the passport as the rest of the world requires your passport in order to allow you into the country.
Many travellers praise and vote this airport as the best airport in the world, I have to be one of the minorities. Once inside the airside, I find the terminal 1 to 3 quite boring, perhaps maybe I have travelled in and out of this airport many times but whatever it is this airport may be in my top 3 list but not the number 1. Well, I would save this topic for another day to explain why.
Before checking in my luggage at the check-in desk, I decided to change my seat to an aisle seat to make myself more comfortable for this flight as I found out that this was a full flight. Later on on board the aircraft, I was welcomed by a couple of Saudia crew before making my way to the seat. Most of the passengers were heading to Jeddah and possibly to Makkah or Medina for prayers during this Ramadan period. As the flightw as departing around 0200 hrs, there was no fasting involved but those that want to pray during the flight were allowed to do so after take off and before landing. This would make it more challenging for the crew when they did their meal service.
For this flight, 2 Captains were in charge of our aircraft and for the crew, they were managed by male crew and trust me, they are not the friendliest out there. Our flight departure was delayed for unknown reasons and the cabin was slighty stuffy due to the lack of air conditioning. It took quite a while to reach the runway and we took off, it was a pretty noisy one especially I was sitting near the rear. Within 2 hours after take off, we were given supper - a pastry and a choice of beverage. During the flight, there were a lot religious passengers doing their prayers at the praying area the during the midflight, there was an announcement asking for assistance from a doctor! Fortunately, a diversion was not required. I managed to catch some sleep and the most satisfiying part of the flight was able to finally watch the last series of the Mission Impossible movie, I missed it in the cinemas and I get to watch it at last!
The second service was served about slightly less than 2 hours prior to arrival at Jeddah and it was slightly slow but I won't blame them due to how full the flight was. One more observation I notieed during the flight was there a lot of coughing was heard at least at my cabin.
Despite our late departure, we managed to land ahead of schedule at Jeddah thanks to the tail wind. The flight was quite a smooth one, hardly any bumps.
Business Class
There are 24 Collins Aerospace Super Diamond Seats configured in a 1-2-1 reverse harringbone style. 6 rows of these are situated at the front cabin. Each passenger flying in this cabin would get to enjoy 47 inches of legroom space, 21 inches of seat width and not only that, these seats can be converted into a lie-flat bed. For entertainment, the Inflight Entertainment screen has a display of 17 inches HD touchscreen and the passengers can charge their devices using the USB-A and Universal power sockets.
Photo: TrippVibes
Due to the full load, I didn't request to visit the business class cabin, but you can check out trippVibes's trip report over here.
Guest Class (Economy)
These seats are designed by Collins Aerospace and it is the Pinnacle model and there are a total of 333 seats in this aircraft. They are arranged in the infamous 3-3-3 configuration that comes with a seat pitch of 32 inches (for the standard seats) and seat width of 17.1 inches. The headrest is adjustable and for the entertainment, each pasenger gets to enjoy the 12 inches of HD Touchscreen display in front of them for the standard seats. Universal Power and USB-A sockets are available.
This is the bulkhead row and it offers better legroom space. I would love to have selected these seats but they cost a lot and even during check-in, these seats along with the others in the first cabin are still chargable.
These seats are fairly comfortable in my opinion.
The cabin interior of the airline's Boeing 787-10.
Avoid the windowless seats (Row 62A and 62L).
The 3-3-3 configuration is unpopular with the passengers mainly due to the crampy feeling.
This is the window seat ot the row I am stting at. I decided to skip the window seat for this flight.
I wish there is more cushion on the seat back.
The last row of the economy class in the first cabin.
This is the lavatory and crew's seat located near the rear of the aircraft.
The crew's work space at the rear.
This is a small dedicated area for prayers.
Instructions for both the crew and passengers.
This is how the dedicated praying area looks like.
There is enough room for around 10 passengers.
This airline is one of the few that have dedicated praying space for the passengers.
The information screen display for the praying passengers.
Cabin view of the economy class
The mood lighting certainly enhances the cabin atmosphere.
The view of the cabin seats during daylight.
The seat pitch of 32 inches is acceptable.
Overhead bin compartment
The middle seats
Time to disembark!
I won't mind settling for this window seat next time as I can recline without bothering anyone.
The IFE display size is adequate for ecomomy class standard.
Few more photos of the cabin
Notice one of the seats in fully recline mode?
More photos of the seat
This is the sort of window seat I like. The window is perfectly aligned to the person sitting at this seat.
The view of the seatback
Legroom space is fine for me
Foldable tray table
Electronic dimmed windows, are you a fan of it?
What's provide for us?
Disposal Bag
Safety Card
Amenity kit consists of eye cover, a pair of ear plugs, small packet of tooth brush and tooth paste and a pair of socks.
This is the pastry snack distributed to us not long after take off.
I am glad they served this instead of a full meal at this hour.
I chose a cup of apple juice as my choice of beverage.
It was a chicken pastry.
This was our breakfast.
Egg omelette with vegetable, potato and tomatoes. It comes with fruits, yogurt and a cup of water.
Later on the crew came to serve us bread in addition to our meal, I must say the food portion is generous and I enjoyed this meal as I was quite hungry at that point of time.
Once again, I opted for a cup of apple juice.
Inflight Entertainment
Kuwait is another city that I like to travel to once the war is over.
There are many languages available.
A good variety of movies, not a lot but there are quality ones.
The 3D inflight map
Praying times were displayed on the screen for this Ramadan period.
The system was easy to navigate.
The standard livery of Saudia Airlines.
The weather report
Did you see the word Trump? Yes, your eyes are not playing a trick.
It's been a long time since I last saw a movie by Paramount organisation.
I also watched this movie along with Mission Impossible but I fell asleep midway through the movie.
PIP (Picture in Picture) is available on this system.
The flight map
The pilot's eye view
I like the airline's corporate colours.
Lavatory
The lavatory was spacious enough for me to take a photo liks this.
The bassinet
Standard lavatory door
No window view photos
As the flight time was mostly in the dark, I decided to choose the aisle seat so for that, I opted to add in my first experience at Jeddah airport instead.
My flight summary
As you can see despite the late departure, our aircraft landed ahead of schedule.
Welcome to Jeddah Airport!
Thanks for the ride, HZ-AR26! This is the old livery and later on during a maintenance check, this aircraft will be painted into the new livery.
Jeddah, one of the many cities in Saudi Arabia!
There are signboards leading you to the international flight connection for the security check clearance.
Complimentary Airport Wifi is available.
After the security clearance was done, I was at the departure hall, airside.
This is a map layout of the terminal.
The interior of the main concourse.
I find the ceiling design looks nice.
On the second level, there are restaurants and cafes
As my transit was less than 2 hours, I spent just a short while checking out the main concourse before making my way to the gate area.
My connecting flight was departing from gate A37.
The interior of the departure hall (airside)
What a beautiful airport traffic control tower!
Now to make my way to the assigned gate.
There are seating areas with charging ports at selected seats.
I was lucky to spot the latest special livery of Saudia. This is the 'Welcome to Arabia' special livery, unfortuately not operating on my flight.
I had to continue walking after admiring that livery.
Another look of the tower.
Personally I like this terminal interior.
To be continued in my next trip report.
My ratings
Airline Website/Mobile App: 4/5
Airport Experience (Singapore): 5/5
Inflight Service: 2.5/5
Seat Comfort: 3/5
Inflight Entertainment: 3/5
Cabin Ambiance: 4/5
Cabin Condition: 5/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
Inflight Meal/Beverage: 3.5/5
Punctuality: 5/5
Overall Rating: 40/50
Percentage: 80%
My final thoughts
There is a lot of catching up this airline has to do to compete with the big names in the middle east but at least there are making progress. Flying during this period (Ramadan) with this airline was an unique experience, I got to experience to see the Muslims doing their praying in this dedicated praying area near the rear of the aircraft. During the flight, it was crowded with most men doing their praying but apart from that, I was able to rest. There is this curtain that can cover that enclosed area so it didn't cause any distraction as I had my earpiece with me, I was not affected by what was going on. The only complaint I have is one of them took a long time to use the lavatory, waited for almost 20 minutes for my turn and during that time, the cabin crew were helpless as they spent a good amount of the time at their workspace.
Apart from that the flight to Jeddah which was pretty smooth, inflight meals was alright but for the cabin service, seeing one of them telling the passenger off like a teacher scolding his/her student, is just not the right in my eyes. Inflight meals were ok and as this was my longest flight on the Boeing 787-10, it was not a bad experience at all. Overall the flight was alright, but for the inflight service, seat comfort and inflight entertainment, the airline loses out to Qatar and Emirates, the only bright side this airline offers is the amenity kit which is slightly better than what Qatar offers and for Emirates, they don't offer this in economy class. I would do an overview of my experience with this airline in the 4th part of my Saudia experience coming up soon.
Was my next flight better? Stay tuned for the next part!
A preview to my next trip report!
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this trip report.
With that said, the journey continues - see you in my next blog post!
Have a good one!
Charles
Coming up next: Part 2 of my Saudia flying adventures (JED-LGW on Boeing 787-9)
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