Saudia

Saudia is the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia and one of the larger full-service airlines in the Middle East, running a sizeable mix of narrowbody and widebody aircraft. Its main hub is King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, with Riyadh, Medina and Dammam as further bases. The network leans heavily on Hajj and Umrah traffic into Jeddah and Medina alongside business and leisure routes across the Gulf, Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.

The airline has been a SkyTeam member since 2012, the first Middle East carrier to join an alliance, so miles and status carry across partners such as Delta, Air France-KLM and Korean Air. Flying Saudia is a mainline experience rather than a boutique one: dependable widebody hardware, a dry cabin with no alcohol served, and prayer-time announcements. It works well as a one-stop link between Europe and Asia, or as the natural choice for pilgrimage travel.

The configurations published here split cleanly into narrowbody and widebody. The Airbus A320-200, A321-200 and A321neo are the short and medium-haul workhorses, all two-class with a recliner business cabin up front and economy in a standard single-aisle 3-3 layout behind it. These cover domestic hops and regional routes across the Gulf, the Levant and nearer parts of Europe and Africa.

The long-haul flying sits on the Boeing 777-300ER, 787-9 and 787-10, plus the Airbus A330-300. The 777-300ER is the flagship and the only published three-class layout, carrying First, Business and Economy. Both Dreamliners run as two-class Business and Economy. The 777 and 787 business cabins use a lie-flat reverse-herringbone arrangement in a 1-2-1 layout with direct aisle access; economy across the widebodies is the familiar 3-3-3.

Up front on the 777-300ER and the two Dreamliners, business class is a reverse-herringbone lie-flat seat with aisle access from every position and a privacy divider, angled towards the window in the single seats. It is a solid, current product rather than a suite with a door, and reviewers tend to rate the hardware above the catering. The 777's three-class layout adds a small forward First cabin. On the narrowbodies, business is a wider recliner rather than a flat bed, fine for the shorter sectors these aircraft fly.

Economy is a standard 3-3-3 on the widebodies and 3-3 on the single-aisle jets, with seatback screens for entertainment. The cabin is dry, with no alcohol on board. Wi-fi is available on much of the long-haul fleet on tiered plans, though it is not fitted across every aircraft, so you may still draw an airframe without it.

On the widebody business cabins, the solo window seats in the reverse-herringbone layout are the pick for anyone travelling alone, since they angle away from the aisle and give the most privacy; the centre pairs suit couples who want to sit together. Aim for rows in the middle of the cabin to stay clear of galley and lavatory traffic at the bulkhead ends, where noise and footfall are heaviest.

In economy on the 787 and 777, the exit rows offer extra legroom but often have fixed armrests and less under-seat stowage, and seats immediately ahead of a galley or lavatory are worth avoiding for the same traffic reasons. On the A320 and A321 family, the front of economy boards and clears fastest, while a true window seat (rather than a misaligned one) is best chosen against the published cabin layout, since single-aisle jets sometimes lose a window at certain rows.