When it comes to airlines in the Middle East, it’s most likely that three carriers come
to mind: Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad.
These three airlines alone have come a long way in dominating the long-haul travel market,
particularly when it comes to connecting Europe and North America, with Asia and Africa with
single-stop itineraries in their respective hubs.
But while these three carriers - collectively known as the M.E.3 - tend to make the headlines,
there are many others in the region carving out their own markets while also competing
with one another.
Saudi Arabian Airlines, otherwise known as Saudia, is one of those carriers - and, it’s
the subject of today’s video!
In terms of full-service airlines operating in the Middle East, Saudia is one of the largest.
This SkyTeam Alliance member actually has more aircraft than UAE carrier Etihad!
Indeed, Etihad operates 90 aircraft - according to Planespotters.net - while Saudia has a
fleet of 152!
Even if we remove the freighters present in the numbers for both airlines, Saudia still
comes out on top.
Let’s first look at all of the passenger aircraft operated by Saudia:
When it comes to narrowbodies, we have: 40 Airbus A320-200s
15 Airbus A321-200s And 1 Airbus A312neo
For Airbus widebodies, the airline operates two Airbus A330-200s and 32 Airbus A330-300s.
And finally, for Boeing widebodies operating passenger services, we see that the carrier
has two 747-400s, 33 777-300ERs, 13 787-9s, and five 787-10s.
It’s worth noting that Planespotters.net lists another two 777-300ERs in a VIP configuration,
but we’ve excluded these jets from the count.
One special aspect of the Saudi Arabian Airlines fleet is that it was the very first to operate
the aircraft known as the “A330-300 Regional.”
With 20 A330-300 Regional aircraft ordered by the airline at the 2015 Paris Airshow,
this variant is specially optimized for regional and domestic operations.
Speaking about the first delivery in August 2016, Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser Director
General Saudi Arabian Airlines, said: “The advantage of operating the new regional version
of such a popular aircraft with proven operational flexibility and lowest cost per seat means
unbeatable economics for our business and our customers.”
The A330-300 Regional is optimized for missions up to 2,700 nm (5-hour flight) covering short
to medium haul routes.
The variant offers significant cost savings through a reduced operational weight of around
200 tons.
According to Airbus, the reduction in fuel burn per seat and maintenance costs result
in an overall cost reduction of around 20% compared with long-range A330-300s.
In case you were wondering about the specific aircraft, ch-aviation.com notes that these
are registered sequentially, starting at HZ-AQ11, and going through to AQ30.
All of these jets have a configuration of 30 business class seats and 300 in economy
class.
Quite interestingly, it looks like Saudia was the only airline to ever order this A330
variant!
Another interesting aspect of Saudia’a current passenger fleet is that it includes a number
of aircraft on short-term leases.
Operating as wet-lease or partial-wet-lease, this includes the two passenger Boeing 747-400s,
which come from Air Atlanta Europe.
There are also the two A330-200s operated by Maleth Aero and a single Airbus A330-300
that comes from Wamos Air.
Interestingly, four of the five wet-leased aircraft arrived in just the past month.
This is likely the airline’s way of handling a spike in travelers as a result of pilgrimages
to Mecca and Medina.
In terms of undelivered aircraft, data from ch-aviation notes that the carrier is expecting
19 Airbus A321neos, as well as 15 A321XLRs.
From Boeing, the airline is expecting to take delivery of another two Boeing 787-10s in
the short-term.
However, on March 14th, 2023, the airline ordered a firm 39 Boeing 787 Dreamliners with
options for an additional 10.
While the -9 and -10 are mentioned, the exact quantities of each variant is unknown.
So with a fleet that’s even larger than Etihad, why might this carrier have a lower
profile than its Abu Dhabi-based counterpart?
It’s difficult to say…although it’s probably not because it didn’t acquire the
Airbus A380 as the other airlines did!
After all, Saudia also serves numerous destinations in Europe and a handful in North America.
It also flies its aircraft to numerous cities in India and East and Southeast Asia.
And finally, while it doesn’t look like either airline serves South America, it appears
that Saudia has a few more African destinations than Etihad.
Additionally, the carrier is a member of one of the big three airline alliances, as on
May 29th, 2012, Saudia celebrated joining SkyTeam.
This made the airline SkyTeam’s 16th member airline and the first member in the Middle
East.
These days, Saudia and MEA are the only SkyTeam alliance members based in the region.
Saudia’s exclusion from being considered one of the ‘big middle eastern airlines’
might be due to a lack of marketing, or simply not focusing as much on connecting travelers
on long-haul journeys.
While the carrier offers a decent inflight product and offers lengthy, single-stop itineraries
like the ME3 airlines, it seems to have a bigger focus on connecting various cities
across Saudi Arabia to each other and the wider region.
And these days, it looks like the plan for a Saudi Arabian carrier to rival the ME3 won’t
come through Saudia.
Instead, it appears that a new Saudi Arabian national airline is set to do this.
Announced in mid-March, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will launch a new national airline
by the name of Riyadh Air.
To ensure that the carrier knows what it’s doing, it has hired former Etihad CEO Tony
Douglas to lead the new airline.
According to Reuters, Riyadh Air will serve more than 100 destinations around the world
by 2030, offering a similar one-stop-itinerary model utilized by the established Middle Eastern
carriers - as well as Turkish Airlines and Ethiopian.
The mid-March announcement was quickly followed by a press release from Boeing stating that
the new airline had ordered 39 Dreamliners, with options for 33 more.
Thus, with all of these big plans for Riyadh Airlines, it looks like Saudia will be quietly
operating in the background, acting more as a gateway to cities across the region.
But going back to Saudia specifically, the carrier offers some luxurious products that
can decently compete with other full-service airlines.
The airline has fitted some of its Boeing 777-300ERs with a first class suite, which
appears to be a lie-flat seat, fully enclosed with large sliding doors.
Additionally, much of the airline’s widebody fleet, including all of its Boeing 787s, offer
lie-flat business class pods for premium travelers.
Additionally, some of its narrowbodies, configured for longer, international services, are fitted
with inflight entertainment systems, even in economy class.
One thing Saudi Arabian Airlines’ flights lack, however, is alcohol.
As Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country - Drinking alcohol is considered haram, or forbidden,
in Islam.
Indeed, Saudi Arabia and its airline’s connection to Islam is unsurprising, given that the country
is the birthplace of the religion.
Thus, Saudia observes and caters to many customs of Islam, including the prohibition of alcohol.
In fact, all Saudi carriers prohibit the drinking and carrying of alcohol on their services.
Another major change to the airline’s flight services has to do with the addition of an
onboard prayer room.
As noted by the website KSA Moments, the most prominent airline to feature a prayer space
is Saudia.
This prayer facility is present in the rear of all Saudia widebody aircraft.
With some spaces large enough to accommodate up to 10 passengers, this room is made possible
with the absence of a section of economy seats ahead of the last galley in the center area.
It’s also noted that some of the airline’s jets also feature a display that points to
find the Qibla, which is the direction of prayer for that moment.
These carpeted areas also feature curtains for privacy.
Based on the airline’s strict no-alcohol-policy, its onboard prayer rooms, and service to numerous
cities across the region, it’s clear that it chosen to prioritize local and Muslim populations
rather than a broader international customer base.
Indeed, even the adoption of the A330-300 Regional shows that the airline’s focus
is on moving travelers within Saudi Arabia and across the greater region.
It will be interesting to see how Riyadh Airlines works alongside Saudia - considering both
airlines are state-owned.
As it stands, Riyadh Airlines seems to be focused on long-haul travel that will provide
competition for the other big Gulf carriers.
Still, for the time being, if you’re looking to travel from a major European city to a
major Southeast Asian destination, with a single stopover in Jeddah or Riyadh, flying
with Saudia would be a decent choice in terms of the inflight experience.
Well, as long as you’re not wanting to drink any alcohol onboard and during your stopover!
So what are your thoughts on Saudi Arabian Airlines?
Is this a Middle Eastern carrier you think you would want to try one day?
Or - if you’ve flown with the carrier before - what was your experience like?
Share your thoughts by leaving a comment!