Review: Saudia B737 Business Class, Riyadh to Manila

 

Saudia B777 business class, Riyadh to Manila

Trip to Manila flying Lufthansa and Saudia Business Class

Flight: SV862
Departure time in Riyadh (RUH): 23:30
Arrival time in Manila (MNL): 13:50 (+1)
Aircraft: Boeing 777 (HZ-AK14)
Seat: 1A
Duration: 9h 20m
Date of flight: December 12, 2025
*This is an award ticket, Business Class flight #309

Video on YouTube



Saudia Catrion Lounge, Riyadh International

After landing in Riyadh, I headed directly to the Catrion Lounge which was previously Saudia Al Fursan Lounge, although it still is Saudia's official lounge.

I love that the lounge has a modern design. And although they were using plastic cutlery (it's true), I am impressed that they were giving a complete set of Salvatore Ferragamo toiletries for those taking showers 👍 I left the lounge more than an hour before departure since Saudia normally starts boarding early.

Boarding, Gate 402 Terminal 4

The boarding gate was already full of Filipinos eager to go home 😉

Aircraft, Boeing 777 ((HZ-AK14)

The 13.8 year old Boeing 777 flying us to Manila

Business Class Cabin

On this B777, there are only 12 business class seats from rows 1 to 2 in a 2-2-2 configuration. All 12 seats were occupied with only 2 male passengers in the cabin (me and my seatmate Ryan).

Seat, 1A

Seat 1A

Large pillow and thick duvet

Personal screen

Under the right armrest are the IFE controller and safety cards. As you can see, the IFE controller is really old.

To the left of the seat are the headphones, bottle of water and reading lamp.

Noise-cancelling headphones

Headphone socket

AC power ports

The footwell was pretty small.

Pre-departure Beverage

Moments after settling in, I was offered something to drink and I chose a glass of smoothie. It was served with a hot towel.

Dates 

The usual Saudi coffee was offered to go with my dates 👍
 
Amenity Kit

I believe I have more than 5 of this kit at home 😉 I thought the contents were generous, and included a small bottle of perfume, lip balm, face wash, face cream and hand and body lotion, all by Elie Saab. The usual dental kit, eye mask and earplugs were also offered. The only things that were missing were slippers and a set of pajamas 😉

Pushback & Take Off

Pushback began at 11:39pm and at 12 midnight, we were airborne.

Entertainment & Wifi

From the movie selection, I ended up watching The Roses which I thought was a nice film.

Sadly, there was no wifi.

Dining

Dinner menu (Saudia Sufrah and Western option)

Desserts, Light Dining, Movie Treats

Beverages

Coffee, hot chocolate, oatmeal drink

Dinner

At 12:17am, we were served some warm nuts.

Then, I was offered something to drink and chose a glass of BelliNo, a non-alcoholic sparkling beverage.

I then decided to inform Leen, the lovely Filipina flight attendant taking care of my aisle that I would like to have dinner. I ordered the lamb loin for appetizer and the salmon as my main course.

The lamb loin was phenomenal.

The Teriyaki salmon was very good.

The rich chocolate tarte was really good although I only ate half to avoid getting fat 😉 

A cup of tea to end the meal.

Time to Sleep

Although the seat does not turn into a fully flat bed, I was still able to sleep for a few hours.

Light Snacks

About 2 hours before landing, we were offered a hot towel which signaled the start of meal service.

I had the Shaksouka eggs which was served with some bread, baked cheese fatayer and traditional Arabic breakfast salad. 

Sliced fruits

To end the meal, I had a cup of green tea served with some Patchi chocolates. I also had Twix from the Movie treats offering.

To end the meal service (one hour before landing), we were offered some hot towels.

Lavatory

There were 2 business class lavatories, both of which were located in front of the cabin. As usual, it had the Saudia branded toiletries (lotion, hand wash, etc.)
 
Landing in Manila

We landed in Manila at 1:38pm and reached our gate in Terminal 1 about six minutes later.

CONCLUSION

Last October, I flew the same exact route and although the seats were outdated and there was no wifi, it was overall a nice flight: fantastic meals, a very nice amenity kit by Elie Saab and a wonderful crew mostly Filipinos, with Leen taking care of me throughout the whole flight. I could not have asked for a better crew on this flight. My only wish is that they would start offering slippers and pajamas on long haul flights. Lastly, being a dry airline does not bother me since I do not drink alcohol. To all the crew on this flight, Maraming Salamat for flying me back home to Manila!

Comments

Post a Comment