Saudia 552
Riyadh (RUH) – Dubai (DXB)
Saturday, June 10
Depart: 6:10PM
Arrive: 9:00PM
Duration: 1hr50min
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 2A (First Class)
I boarded through the forward door at around 5:30PM, where I was greeted by the cabin supervisor, as well as the two lovely Filipino flight attendants who would be taking care of me. I was escorted to my seat, 2A. This was exactly the same aircraft I had flown from New York to Riyadh, so I won’t post many cabin pictures this time around.
Saudia’s new first class seat
Saudia first class cabin
Saudia first class cabin
A few minutes after settling in I was offered a hot or cold towel — I selected a cold towel this time around.
Saudia first class pre-departure hot towel
I was also offered a selection of pre-departure beverages, include date, lemon, or orange juice. I chose the date juice, which was rich and tasty — I wish I had known about it on the previous flight.
Saudia first class pre-departure drink
I was also offered headphones for the short flight. I checked my email during boarding, and noticed that I had another code for free Wi-Fi from Saudia, much like on the last flight.
Saudia first class headphones
Eventually three other first class passengers boarded. All of them were Saudi, best I could tell — one was a younger guy carrying a Cartier bag, and then there was an older couple.
By 5:55PM boarding was complete, and a few minutes after that we began our pushback. At that point the safety video and prayer were screened.
Pushing back Riyadh Airport
Flynas A320 Riyadh Airport
Taxiing Riyadh Airport
As we taxied to the runway I turned on the high definition nose camera, which was cool to watch.
Nose camera while taxiing Riyadh Airport
Our taxi to the runway was quick, but then we had to hold short of the runway to wait for a couple of planes to land. At this point the captain added his welcome aboard, informed us of our flight time of 70 minutes, and also told us that the sun should set about 30-45 minutes after takeoff, and that he would announce when it was time for iftar. As I’ve explained, flying Saudia during Ramadan is interesting.
Nose camera while taxiing Riyadh Airport
By 6:15PM we were cleared for takeoff on runway 33R, with a gorgeous view of the sun slowly setting in the distance.
Taking off Riyadh Airport
Taking off Riyadh Airport
Our climb out was smooth, and I enjoyed the views on departure.
View after takeoff from Riyadh
View after takeoff from Riyadh
Sun setting enroute to Dubai
The seatbelt sign was turned off just five minutes after takeoff, at which point I was asked if I wanted dinner, or if I would be fasting. I was the only one in the cabin (and seemingly on the plane) not observing Ramadan, so service was very attentive.
I was offered a drink to start, and ordered some sparkling water.
Saudia first class drink service
A few minutes later my table was set, with a smaller tablecloth than on the last flight.
Saudia first class table setting
Given that this was just a 70 minute flight, most of the food was served at once. First I was offered a shrimp salad, a chocolate cake for dessert, a selection of bread, and a box of dates.
Saudia first class dinner service
The shrimp salad was quite nice, as was the cake.
Saudia first class dinner service — salad and dessert
About 10 minutes later the crew came by my seat with the choice of two main courses. There was either a chicken biryani or a lamb biryani. I chose the former. It was reasonably good, though the chicken seemed to be pretty low quality.
Saudia first class dinner service — main course
I was also offered a couple of beef pastries, which the crew explained were typical iftar snacks, that would be served to the rest of the plane after sunset. Maybe someone can enlighten me as to what these are called, because I forgot.
Saudia first class dinner service
After dinner I asked for a cup of coffee to go along with my dessert and dates.
Saudia first class coffee, dessert, and dates
The sun finally set as we began our descent, at which point the same message was played over the PA as on the last flight — “ladies and gentlemen, it is now time for Iftar. May Allah accept all our good deeds.”
At this point the crew began their service throughout the rest of the cabin, even though we’d be landing soon.
Sunset enroute to Dubai
Given how short the flight was I just kept the nose camera on for the first half of the flight, and then turned on the airshow, as we were passing by Kish Island, approaching the coast of the UAE.
Airshow enroute to Dubai
Airshow enroute to Dubai
Interestingly the airshow had two lines — one taking us straight over Qatar, and one taking us around. I actually think this had little to do with the current conflict between the countries, but rather the airshow seemed to be incorrectly programmed. It showed our origin as being New York, so the green line was the direct line from New York to Dubai, while the yellow line was our actual route.
Airshow enroute to Dubai
Our flight time ended up being a bit longer than expected, as we flew inland over the UAE, and then made a 180 degree turn to come in for landing.
Airshow enroute to Dubai
We had a smooth touchdown at Dubai Airport at 8:45PM. From there it was a 10 minute taxi to our arrival gate, and then another five minute wait until we could pull into our gate. That’s because apparently there was a problem with the docking system. Finally by 9PM we could deplane, just on schedule.
Korean Air A330 Dubai Airport
The walk to immigration was super long, and then I also got sent to secondary, so it was over an hour from the time I landed until I was out of the airport.
Saudia first class bottom line
For a 70 minute flight, this was pretty tough to beat. Having a fully enclosed suite on such a short flight is a treat, though on top of that the crew was friendly and service reasonably good. Observing the way Ramadan was being handled was interesting as well.
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