Hello from Saudi Arabia, as I continue my review trip. The main reason I came to Saudi Arabia is to try Riyadh Air, which is the most well funded and ambitious airline start that we’ve seen in a very long time (admittedly it helps to be owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund).
The airline finally launched commercial operations as of a few weeks ago, and I’ll be flying the airline in business class from Riyadh (RUH) to Madrid (MAD).
Prior to the flight, I had the chance to check out the Riyadh Air Hafawa Lounge at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport. It’s rare to seen an airline offer a true flagship lounge experience at the time of launch, so that’s remarkable in and of itself.
However, Riyadh Air really knocked it out of the park with this lounge. This will unarguably make my list of the world’s best business class lounges, and in terms of lounge aesthetics, I think this might just be on Cathay Pacific’s level (which is the ultimate compliment).
While I’ll have a full review soon, I’d like to share some initial impressions of this 2,000 square meter (21,500 square foot) lounge, which has the capacity for 370 guests.
In this post:
There’s an expansive buffet, which in and of itself would be a solid selection, with both hot and cold options. We’re talking mostly individually plated cold options, plus eight hot options that I found to be very high quality.
But that’s only the beginning, as there’s also an a la carte dining selection, which I found to be really high quality. Guests can order as much as they want, and are encouraged to have a three course meal. Given the late night and early morning flights departing the Middle East, it’s a great way to dine on the ground, so you can sleep onboard.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on One Mile at a Time.
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