Saudia flies nonstop Los Angeles to Riyadh

LOS ANGELES, CA, USA – Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) flight number SV 44 took off from Los Angeles International Airport on a journey to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Taking off 2 minutes earlier than its 7:30 pm scheduled departure, the flight is the very first nonstop flight from the US West Coast to the Saudi capital city.

To commemorate the important occasion, Saudia Los Angeles staff decorated the check-in counter with flowers, blue and gold balloons and handed out red roses and chocolates to the passengers. Special gifts were also given to the first passengers who checked in in First Class, Business Class and Guest Class.

A B777-300ER made the historic flight which, at more than 16 hours, should be one of the longest flights in commercial aviation today. The Saudi flag carrier launched its Los Angeles to Jeddah nonstop service last year, on March 31, 2014, starting with 3 flights a week and currently at 5 flights weekly during the summer peak season.
While the nonstop LAX-RUH flights will only be limited to the month of August to accommodate market demand during the airline’s peak period, the service is expected to be restored in the future to fulfil the needs of Saudi students, the diplomatic community as well as business travelers who prefer to fly nonstop to the Saudi capital.

Saudia cabin crew headed by Supervisor Nabee Bahareth.

The check-in counters were decorated with flowers, balloons and posters and roses and chocolates were given out to all passengers with special gifts handed out to passengers who checked in first on Guest Class, Business Class and First Class.

Aside from Los Angeles, Saudia currently flies daily from New York JFK, daily from Washington Dulles (IAD) and 3 times a week from Toronto Pearson (YYZ). All flights are nonstop either to Jeddah or Riyadh, with convenient connections to all Saudi domestic points and beyond to its international gateways in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe. Saudia currently flies to more than 80 destinations. As a member of SkyTeam global airline alliance, Saudia also has access to more than 1,000 worldwide destinations serviced by the alliance’s 20 members.
All flights are operated with Boeing B777-300ER with 2 and 3-class configurations. The LAX flights have 24 seats in First Class, 36 seats in Business Class and 245 seats in its Guest Class. As an added in-flight service feature, an on-board SkyChef serves passengers in the First Class cabin but also solicits feedback from Business Class and Guest Class passengers.

The first LAX-RUH nonstop flight had a total of 268 passengers on board, 88% of total seat capacity with 222 Guest Class, 36 Business Class and 10 First Class passengers. The flight was operated by Captain Hassan Abushanab, Captain Vladimir Blavjev, First Officer Mahmoud Firdous and First Officer Mohammed Alganas. Cabin Crew Supervisor was Nabee Bahareth.