Saudia

1 · POSITION

Saudia’s business class on the Airbus A321XLR is a one-one cabin of twenty-four suites with doors. Each offers a fully horizontal flat bed with direct aisle access for every seat. The aircraft carries 144 seats in all, the remaining 120 being Safran Z400 seats in a three-three economy cabin. The suite, not the seat, is the unit of the forward cabin. [3]

2 · THE DOOR SHOWN BEFORE THE AIRCRAFT

Saudia unveiled the seat, the VantageSOLO suite, at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai in May 2023, three years before the aeroplane flew for it. The airline’s description set out a privacy shield around the back and an additional door at the aisle, seats that can be reclined fully into bed mode, an eighteen-inch screen and increased storage space. A new economy seat, the z400, carrying a thirteen-inch screen, was announced alongside it. [1]

3 · ONE SCREEN SYSTEM FROM NOSE TO TAIL

On the delivered aircraft Panasonic Avionics’ 4K OLED Astrova system is fitted from nose to tail. In business class each screen is sized eighteen inches; each economy seat has a thirteen-inch display and up to 67W of USB-C power. One system serves both cabins, so the screen marks no boundary between them. What separates the two is the door and the bed. [3]

4 · THE SUITE PROMISED TO THE WIDEBODIES

In February 2024 Saudia named Collins Aerospace to supply newly designed business and economy seats. The airline stated that the business class cabin across its wide-body fleet would all consist of private suites. Collins is to fit the Boeing 787s scheduled for delivery from early 2026, and to carry out a seat retrofit programme on the existing aircraft with an aim to enhance both functionality and aesthetics. That describes a fleet-wide intention rather than an interior that has been seen. [2]

5 · ⚑ CANDOUR

⚑ Saudia’s own website returned a bot-detection page on every path attempted, so this entry does not rest on the airline’s own description of its cabins; it rests on trade republication of releases from the airline and its suppliers. The phrase private suites is Saudia’s, and the wide-body programme is an intention, not an installation. The A321XLR account describes the first delivered aircraft, registered HZ-ASBA, and must not be generalised. The Saudia First Suite could not be established here. [1–3]