Whereas the crux of this article will cover the Riyadh Saudia Alfursan Lounge, I will also cover some aspects of the Riyadh airport (RUH) experience, as well as Saudia business class from Riyadh to Dubai.
From Check-in to the Lounge
Riyadh airport is huge. However, Terminals 1-4 are interconnected; if you happen to be leaving from Terminal 5, whoops.
I was dropped off at Terminal 4, and went to check-in. Apparently, there is a business class check-in area, but given that there were no queues at the time (around 16:00), I went ahead and did the needful around the drop-off point.
Security and immigration were also not busy at all, so I had a rather fast check-in to lounge experience.
Saudia Alfursan Lounge
Once you leave security, to reach the lounge, you will walk through some duty-free hallway, and then hang a right (it’s next to gate 407, as can be seen in the above photo). From prior trips through Riyadh, I was expecting to have to go left, and upstairs; however, that larger Alfursan Lounge (in Terminal 3) is under redevelopment.
For the nearly two hours I was at the Alfursan Lounge, it was never that busy. There were standard seats to the left, and dining tables to the right. Some coat hooks were also available. Plus, that the lounge was adjoined by airport windows helped give the impression that it was airier and wider.
Food
Much like the Zagreb primeclass lounge, the food and drink choices were slightly better than expected; keep in mind that there’s not much to eat in the terminal besides coffee, stale pastries, and fast food.
I’m sure that when the larger Alfursan Lounge reopens, many more f&b options will be available.
The small size of the lounge made me want to get up and take a walk to Terminal 3, and what’s worse is that the internet wasn’t working. To use the airport internet, you had to submit your mobile phone number, so I just stuck with data for the time.
In all, the Riyadh Saudia Alfursan Lounge was fine for a short stay, but that’s about it.
Saudia Business Class, Riyadh to Dubai
Boarding started about 40-45 minutes before ETD (estimated time of departure). Wanting to get settled in, I boarded early, and asked for my usual date shake:
At that point, I realized I should have taken a photo of the seat, on this newish Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner:
The flight was less than two hours to Dubai, so I was easily distracted by the in-flight map, as well as the meal service.
Except for that one time 10 years ago when I was involuntarily downgraded from J to Y, I haven’t had a bad Saudia flight … but there is one concerning trend in this region. In-flight calls are allowed, as they are on Emirates, long-haul Turkish Airlines routes, and soon — if the airlines so choose — within the EU.
That’s a darn shame.
Leave a Reply