Saudi Arabian Airlines A320-200 Riyadh to Frankfurt

[fs2004ish]

that was so funny

[SVnerd]

I'm not sure if anyone knows this but Saudia's A320s and A330 are a mix of owned and leased planes. Some might not have TVs because they were leased from Turkish airlines until the rest of the planes they ordered arrives. On a different note, I took their A330 Dammam-Jeddah in business class. The service was good, with TVs, on board WiFi and you're allowed to use your cell phone during cruise. My only disappointment is that their business and first class seats are not 180 degree flat beds.

[hmasurg]

@SVnerd I believ the A320 designated with numbered registartions (eg. HZ-AS14) are on dry lease while those with letters are fully owned by SV (eg. HZ-ASB). I have been on both and the all have PTV ONLY in J class while Y class has none. Thanks for watching and commenting.. more SV flights and video on my channel!

[7CoolCool]

i hate saudi A320 its sucks economy suck nothing to do D: there is no TV !!!

[hmasurg]

@7CoolCool I don't like SV either... thanks for watching and commenting!

[MoizAR]

@hmasurg dont worry.......i m pretty sure it will improve after SV joins sky team..:)

[hmasurg]

@MoizAR Forgive my skepticism but we shall see :-)

[mja72]

Aern't those SV's old A300-620's standing there next to the sole MD-90? I think they sold some of their A300's which ended up getting scrapped and the rest remain parked awaiting buyers.

[hmasurg]

@mja72 Yes they are. SV was the launch customer of this type (not the far more common 600R) back in the early 80's with 11. They served mainly high volume domestic routes and some regional routes. I was surprised when SV retired them as they did abruptly in 2003-2004. they were old but not as old as the 732 (that remained for a year or two after) or the 741 that have been grounded and retired last year. These have been parked for a long time now, I don't see any potential buyers.

[FeduoGaGa]

I Love saudi Arabian

[hmasurg]

@FeduoGaGa Thanks for watching

[timecop73]

hahaha that was funny about the fligh entertainment..5 hour flight and it says "due to the short flight time,movies are unavailable"...the food looks good though..i'l be travelling in the a330 next week inshalla..i'l try to video it..

[hmasurg]

@timecop73 Tell me about it :S

Hope you enjoy your flight!

[anashamd9]

I just watched the video. You are a great director Man.

This is a very well done clip. Thumbs up

[hmasurg]

@anashamd9 Thanks for watchig and kind words. I am happy to see you enjoyed them.. stay tuned for more coming soon!

[hmasurg]

@MegaPlanelover Well SV utilizes their 777 on domestic routes as well, mainly between Riyadh/Jeddah and Jeddah/Dammam.

[True0Faith]

Wut !!

Sauteed vegetables on board of Saudi Airline flights !! Sounds strange for many

Thanks for sharing with us wut you ate that day 

[hmasurg]

@True0Faith Thanks for watching and commenting!

[am1966ath]

Does Riyadh airport have anything to offer?..shopping and eating?

[hmasurg]

@am1966ath the offerings are mediocre. Again the terminal buildings are not designed to harbor a "food court' or a "shopping complex" and even if it did I doubt they would provide something good. What is available now is better than 5 years ago. At the departure halls, there is a starbucks (T2), Costa coffee (T3) and Dr. Cafe (T1) and non franchise cafeteria in each departure hall. The only shopping is a small store with the usual items and little selection all of the same local franchise.

[am1966ath]

Ill be quit frank with you..I prefer the airport of Dhaka to Frankfurt/main airport..the Dhaka airport is spotless clean..each airline has its own staff,long gone in Europe with all the handling agents taking care of check-in for dozens of airlines.

Gulfair staff in Dhaka is super. Frankfurt is a monster of an airport with security checks, mixing schengen-nonshengen passangers blabla walking for ages through soulless corridors.

[hmasurg]

@am1966ath There are some airports that are just charming weather because of the location, quietness, architecture, size and services (examples of these for me are YOW and SIN).. I agree that a place like FRA or LHR are not one of them. However for a person like me who loves to travel and visit airports, being at such major hubs get me every time. I do admit that there is an aura of having the person on the ground in formt of you for your flight is actually a member of the airline concerned.

[am1966ath]

@hmasurg Haven t been to Ottawa airport but have transited Singapore a couple of times in 25years..SIN was great in the 1980 when airports like LHR and Copenhagen where still 1960-relics..Heathrow was awful before renovation,especially terminal 2 and 3..terminal 3 had changed a little since 1960 but was very cramped, very small taxfree-shop and cafeteria..basically a hoalding-area for B747-passangers untill departure times when they should

go to gate for boarding. Today SIN is to big.

[hmasurg]

YOW is a good "little" fully capable international airport. SIN offers everything for today's traveler and is the hub for SQ what else can one ask for? It has been 9 years since I last visited LHR, I remember T3 and it's cramped duty free. Back in 87 was the first time I flew into LHR T4 and form what I can recall I was amazed by the "concept" of an airport shopping mall. I assume T5 has some good services.

[am1966ath]

@hmasurg The airport shopping mall was born then in the late 1980S probably as a reaction to the massive taxfree-shops at Singapore Changi...taxfree-shops turned into Harrods. SIA has lost some of its charm that it had 25years ago when it was smaller..I think that Emirates have surpassed SIA and Dubai has become more comfortable hub than SIN however you have to wait longer for transfer at Dubai..up to 8hours throught the night or early morning.

[hmasurg]

@am1966ath I wonder how the new Jabel Ali World airport will be once it has fully opened and what impact it will have on operations at DXB.

[am1966ath]

Beautiful video..I miss the middle east..the friendly people, the food and the heat..is Saudia also storing aircrafts like Nigeria airways???

[hmasurg]

@am1966ath Thank you for that.. I am glad you liked it. SV has many 3 stored aircraft in RUH (2 A300-600 and one MD-90 seen on the video) they also have some classic 741 and A300-600 in JED. The old Tristars were stored in ELQ and TIF for some time I am not sure of they are still there or not.

[am1966ath]

@hmasurg The middle east some 20years ago was not at all easy to go to if you was not invited for business..today the gulf welcomes tourists..fascinating place..I think that Saudi arabia is also fascinating but still closed to a degree..that huge airport in Riyadh looks very empty compared to Dubai.

[hmasurg]

@am1966ath RUH is the 2nd largest (1st is DMM) worldwide by surface area but that includes the entire parameter. The terminals themselves may look attractive from the outside but they are NOT designed, maintained and operated to be a proper international airport by competition standards. At peek hours the airport is a mess (Arr, Dep, Check in, Baggage claim, immigration etc.). Fraport has been granted consultation rights but nothing have changed. Same non sense for DMM. JED is clearly the worst.

[am1966ath]

@hmasurg Unfortunately Dubai has the same problem on arrival..huge immigration lines,chaotic taxi stand outside in the opressive heat..I can immagine that there is no taxfree shop in Riyadh?..can you immagine a Lufthansa or SIA A380 arriving at dawn?

Mind you the B777 is quite a big plane and a couple of them is also a lot of work and chaos if there is no preparations.

[hmasurg]

@am1966ath It's true about Dubai but still better than RUH. Think about it this way each terminal has only 8 gates that are never filled at a certain given time (maximum I have seen is 6-7 once) and the terminal immigration area is designed to be at a point of convergence so it is jam packed) at least DXB has a larger hall and an e-gate that actually works. (btw e-gate is available in RUH but only at T2 and only 2 devices which are slow) if the lines are not crowded better to go the officer.

[travellingtheworld]

Love your videos, just a question, whats the size of the screen? 9inch? will the a320 have wifi or is it only on the A330? many thanks

[hmasurg]

@travellingtheworld Thank you for watching and commenting. I am not sure of the size but it is slightly larger than the usual PTV's and are wide screen. The wifi is only available on the A330 but when i flew on it for an 80 min domestic flight it was not available - I asked the airline about that but they have yet to reply. Thanks agaion and stay tuned for more!

[travellingtheworld]

@hmasurg Thanks bro, I never flew on an a330, but they only operate to Istanbul and Cairo if im not mistaken,routes im not interested in.... I'll try Ruh-Jed inchalla :) thanks and good luck.

[truly0phinoy]

Seems like a quiet engine... :D i rode an A320 all economy and engines are soo noisy during climb..

[hmasurg]

@truly0phinoy Perhaps becuae this was tekn form the front cabin, the problem was the shacking sounds on climb and taxi, did you hear it?

[truly0phinoy]

@hmasurg Nope, but i can hear those sounds also on wide bodies, especially on 330s and 747s.

[truly0phinoy]

Any PTVs Onboard? In Economy?

[hmasurg]

@truly0phinoy No.. If they assign some A320's for 3-5 hour flights then I think they by far should have put some PTV's in Y class. Another disappointing feature.

[truly0phinoy]

@hmasurg well for long flight they musnt use these A320s, in our country they use A320s for Domestic and short haul flights only

[hmasurg]

@truly0phinoy They used to send the 777 to FRA but now it has been downgraded to the A320 (smaller but newer). The A320 also are becoming SV's workhorse servicing many domestic and regional routes as it takes place of the aging MD90s

:-)

[aziz5627]

I have the same laptop :p

[hmasurg]

@aziz5627 It's a good one isn't it? Thanks for watching and commenting - stay tuned :-)

[Elktest]

nice pic and video from the inside from the A320, i see the from the outside.

[hmasurg]

@Elktest Thanks for that.. you have filmed the outside I the inside.. we work good together :-)

Thanks for watching and commenting !

[THESWORDKSA]

Very Nice .. I like it

Saudia Airlines inshallah in best soon !!

[hmasurg]

@THESWORDKSA

Thank you for your comment I am glad you like it, although I have many reservations on Saudi Arabian Airlines and their services.

Stay tuned for more SVA videos :-)

[THESWORDKSA]

@hmasurg

inshallah :)

[Saguaro24]

Nice video. I would rather pay less for the ticket instead of having food but that's just me. I can survive just fine not eating every few hours :)

[hmasurg]

@Saguaro24 I'm glad you liked it :-)

Your point makes sense.. perhaps one of teh good things of J class on a single aisle plane like this is that you can get some shots of the engines :-)

stay tuned :-)

[applesweeter]

What do you like about their inflight meal? the design, the colour, the taste, the freshiness feeling...etc.

Also, What do you enjoy about their rest room?

[hmasurg]

@applesweeter Back in the 80's and early 90's SV meals were the best in the air, particularly in Y class where the portions and quality would surpass any other world airline.

But that was then for the last 10 years or so it has been going down hill. When you think you are in Business class on a flight to Europe (regradless of type of aircraft) you would epect more "personlized service" "better china plates" and better quality meals.

[hmasurg]

@applesweeter Although the meals is not the most important thing on a flight it does give you a feeling of wellbeing and entertainment all these fall on how the airline sees you, the premier customer.. part of this is how the check in, boarding process, lounges are.. which sadly were below average for SV.

[hmasurg]

@applesweeter The rest room was well equipped but small, but then again that is what is expected on a smaller aircraft like the A320.

[applesweeter]

The architecture of the airport's passenger terminal is very artistic and cultrual.

[hmasurg]

@applesweeter

True, from a distance it looks nice.

But - infrastructure, ancillary services and maintanince through out the airport (and all saudi airports to be honest) are terrible. This is an International airport and major hubs lacks ideas and designs for passenger movement and entertainment. No proper check in area, long disorganized line and each terminal has only 8 gates (3 terminals and one terminal that has been ready since the airport opened in the early 80's and yet to be used).

[Starboard76]

I like cool tunes you always select..they seem to compliment the soothing feeling inflight sensation provides.

Good shot of the 777 at the gate and the other A320 on the ramp.

[hmasurg]

@Starboard76

I'm glad you think so. That is one of my favorite tunes, some should be the boarding music in the plane I think.

I am hoping to get better shooting opportunities for the 777, I guess it was nice that Kilo Gulf was all alone resting just enough for me to get that angle.

Thanks for your comments.. much appreciated :-)

[frequentairbusflyer8]

excellent video! Really enjoyed this!

[hmasurg]

@frequentairbusflyer8

thanks for watching and commenting. Happy to hear you enjoyed it.. Stay tuned for more :-)