Travelled in the business class of one of these Saudia 747-4s back in 2009. My seat was on the lower deck, in the very first aisle in nose section. I remember one of the pilots hang his jacket in the cupboard in nose section and then him taking a seat right next to me. Travelled again in a Saudia 747-4 in 2014 but this time it was economy. The seat was besides the emergency exit though I and my sister had the pleasure of talking to the amazing cabin crew throughout the flight that was sitting right next to us. Amazing memories.
Flew these as a child in the 80s. Used to love going up and down and the amazing cabin crew. They were the sweetest crew we ever traveled with. I wanted to be a flight attendant for many years because of the experience with Saudia cabin crew.
Best commercial aircraft ever built. They should build them again with refitted more efficient engines. My first experience was a rumbling, shaking and rattling run down the runway, but once airborn it was a such a pleasurable flight.
You can keep it even if its a 747! I worked Haj flights as cabin crew and they are horrible, as Dan said most people have never been on a plane let alone seen one 🥴
I've done first class on Saudi Airways and it was pretty basic (not that I have much reference with other airlines) but the reclining seats were nice and they served Belgian waffles for breakfast which were so good!
The future of the A380 me thinks! Future Mecca-mobiles! 853 in all economy would be economical but probably terrifying if you have claustrophobia... Then again Mecca during pilgrimage probably isn't for you if that's the case...
I have rode in one of the 74 sevens of Saudia from Medina to Dhaka. My seat was broken. The plane was all AF. The meal service was the only thing good about it, and the entertainment system didn’t even work. Neither did the air-conditioning. The bathroom was shared with Economy oh, and The ground crew were sitting on the steps that would lead up to business class, and we also had to take the same bus to the plane people were spitting on the bus
It is a regular plane anyone can fly, hajj passengers aren’t there for IG photo ops so not a lot of online photos. Next time we go I will try to rdmember to take some
Jeddah doesn’t have any Non-Muslim restriction right? And I’d assume these are just additional capacity planes on top of their regular jets used on this route.
most definitely because back in the 1990s I flew first class and business class on those planes and they're wonderful. that's more important that even an economy class the seats were more comfortable more space and the food was exquisite!! unfortunately, most of what they serve now is more like garbage compared to what it used to taste like.
