First class cabins receivespecial attention in air travel. The reason? An airline that strives for excellence in first class deploys a service culturethat will infuse all classes of service, including economy. Saudia has understood this…
First class suites, a recent trend that is having an impact
Emirates was the pioneer: it installed suites in all its A380s and raised the level of service inFirst Class, communicating extensively on this class which concerns less than 5% of passengers.
All the Gulf airlines have followed suit, as well as most Asian airlines.
In Europe, Air France was one of the first to offer its La Première suite, innovating massively compared to its competitors thanks to a blackout curtain to ensure total privacy, and unprecedented, including in The Residence of Etihad.
Thus, Saudia, driven by very high ambitions, has decided to deploy a similar product on these Boeing 777-300s.
An exceptional product, on paper
Nevertheless, the product announced by Saudia on its website seems exceptional. In any case, Saudia announces that it will take care of the passenger from end to end, just like the best First worldwide.
However, for the moment, there is little communication and even less testimonials about this new service. Stay tuned.
A hard product at the best worldwide level
However, for the First Class product, Saudia has chosen an Oasis seat from B/E Aerospace, equivalent to the one in the Air France La Première suite.
Obviously, to support a seat of this size, the cabin configuration is 1-2-1. Needless to say, as you can see from the pictures, the seat is full-flat, full-access and full-privacy.
The seat equipment is obviously at the highest level with advanced connectivity and extra-large IFE.
The difference with the product offered by Air France is undoubtedly the sliding door, which is reminiscent of the Emirates First suite:
A locker room is available in each suite:
In short, a nice hard product, which is certainly important, but without a quality soft product, is very insufficient for a First
A greatly improved service
Saudia has understood this well: a considerable effort to upgrade cabins is de facto accompanied by an improvement in service.
For this purpose, Saudia has introduced on-board chefs who are solely responsible for the catering of its First class.
He will be in charge of cooking, plating and serving the passengers in this cabin.
The examples of proposed dishes are really appealing.
Nothing is mentioned about alcohol… But Saudia will have to go through this to compete with its Gulf rivals who have not hesitated.
Saudia will also have to negotiate the renovation or even reconstruction of its two hubs, which are currently in a pitiful state.
Conclusion
A promising product, but needs to be tested to see if attention has been paid to the customer from end to end.
