All the departures at Tunis required a 6% gradient of climb, this is why is so steep until at least 3000fts, at 250 knots its at least 1500ft/min climb. Lot´s of restricted airspace around the airport. Love your videos !! Cheers from Brasil !!!
there you go! I'm guessing there's probably some surface-to-air defense systems around that area LOL definitely don't want to go to slow at certain altitudes around there
I thought it might be to get out of Libya's missile range? It's Tunisia's neighbour after all. I remember flying from Sydney to Rome on Qantas a few decades ago, the normal flight plan would've taken us over Libya but we avoided it like the plague.
I remember departing Tunis back to London. The guy at checkout took my passport and boarding pass then whispered he would give me back my passport if I gave him some money. I told him I had left all my loose change in my hotel room. He tossed my passport back to me in disgust. This was many years ago.
@@ShakirUddin-hu3gk It's not. Same experience. I traveled to Tunis for work with some regularity, and we were always given an "official per diem" on top of the standard per diem. Its purpose was clear. One one of my something like 10 flights to Tunis pre-COVID, I was given the option of doing passport control "the easy way" or "the hard way". I paid for the easy way.
I am Tunisian and the capital is known to have many rude and greedy people and especially the vulgarity in language seem more common(not all of them obviously so tunisians, don’t curse me) I personally avoid Tunis airport Try Djerba or Hammamet or Nabeul, people in those region are more polite and welcoming
She seemed stressed out. In large swathes of the world including Europe you're not likely to get a smile from someone who's stressed out. Only people from the US and parts of Asia (Thailand etc.) bother to plaster that fake smile on their face when their job is 💩
@@reffyfikserting you must be right as there is nothing more annoying then going to a pool party after a flight. Yesterday was my chance to rest but had to go to annoying barbeque party on Al Jazeera beach. I slept with girls from every airline in the middle east That's a lie did not do anything from Qatar Airlines, I ask my friends from Etihad if they can hook me up,
@@jasminerice00 I've worked in customer service and it was always the same nationalities with attitude problems. 😅 I'm sad to say this, but muslim women were some of the most rude customers I've ever met...some African women were friendly, some were downright aggressive. Yes we all have our bad days, but I never encountered a poorly behaving Japanese or US citizen, for example (those exist, I know).
i have to agreed YES she was indeed arrogant~ maybe somebody holding business tickets asking a favor to have FREE Upgrade~ and she was frustrated u know Arabs have "NO" word in their dictionary
What a horrible experience a the airport, and quite a grim looking airport. I recoiled at the point where the lounge receptionist slapped your pass back down on the desk without even a cursory attempt at eye contact, let alone a smile. It was like one of those corporate videos where they show their staff how not to treat a customer. Still, at least you were able to enjoy some light dinning.
The rule with many Middle Easter airlines (some more, others less) is that if you fly a route to a third-world country (South Asia, Africa) vs another route to East Asia, EU, or NA, it is like flying two different airlines or two different classes. Some airlines reduce the difference and others just expose it, but the gap is ALWAYS there. Part of it is down to the passengers too.
Just flown in and out of Hurguarda Egypt as disabled traveller , I've done this with friends many times but this time our experience was dreadful beyond dreadful. There security is so tight which we're used to but so forceful and disrespectful to us when we arrived to none of our mobility equipment and left us at gate with no wheelchair or other assistance. We eventually found our own scooters and wheel chairs behind some unmarked door by baggage. But usually we praise how efficient they are and it was a startling contrast this time. Attitudes too
Having a made a few Saudia flights recently, totally agree on your comments. Great food and cabin crew, but the rest of the experience is poor, especially compared with Emirates. They managed to lose my bag, but quickly recovered it, but then failed to let me know. So close but so far.
@@smikejasper4461 Uh, but Noel wasn’t passive aggressive _AT ALL._ He was simply *passive.* He said “uh, okay,” and scurried off with his tail in between his legs. There’s zero spine in this guy lmfao.
I made the same mistake of flying with this airline, the whole process was anti passenger from checkin to off-boarding. Not enough staff, super long queues, what felt like secret police bag searches. Horrible.
@@jimhache765 Yikes man. She works at an AIRPORT. You know, where tourists with cameras are EVERYWHERE?! That’s the job she took, and if she can’t treat tourists kindly, then she needs to find a different job. _SHE’S_ the one with the problem.
'service with a scowl'...you weren't wrong there!😖 That was another excellent video. These are always gems Noel, cheers for doing them. That hotel at the end was fantastic!
@@noelphilips 7:05 Regarding the typo you asked us about... you didn’t think it was “yoghurt,” did you? Because some spell it like that. There’s actually _TWO_ typos I found though: Both of the words “tagine” and “boukhari” aren’t supposed to be spelled that way. How do I know? I had to look up the words because I didn’t know what they were! Haha. I’ll leave you to look them up too, so you can learn their proper spelling if you’re interested and you didn’t realize that one or both words were misspelled. ;) My mom drilled into my head when I was young that looking things up myself makes the word/definition easier to remember, versus her simply giving me the answer. She was right!
The staff at Tunis Airport is a scandal. How dare you addressing and bothering them with your presence... ? Reminds me of the old Soviet Union "shut up and do as you are told" attitude. But Noel never loses his good humor, does he ? That makes this series so special.
i am a tall white western man. i thoroughly enjoy going to parts of the world where i actually get treated like shit, it makes a nice change to have the tables turned
Rudest airpot I have ever experienced was Atlanta international arrivals. The shout and coral you like you are on the prison exercise yard. SFO and Dulles also bad. US airports have been the worst for shouty officials!
I remember flying out of Tunis back to europe like 10 years ago. The take off had a very high climb rate in combination with a pretty tight left turn. Meaning steep pitch up while sitting at a pretty high bank angle very close to the ground. I knew the plane could easily handle this maneuver, still felt uncomfortable af as a passenger. After reaching cruising altitude the pilot sort of apologised and said he had to perform this maneuver due to restricted airspace. The presidential residence isn't (or at least wasn't) allowed to be overflown and the runway we were taking off from was aiming at it. Edit: Your flight path at 15:30 looks like you were using the same runway. The presidential residence is near Carthage and it looks like you were flying over it. Maybe you are allowed to do so now at a certain altitude and thats why the climb was so steep?
The takeoff angle sounds a lot like the Orange County California Airport noise abatement takeoff that starts off super steep like a rocket ship, then once out over the ocean it almost seems like they turn off the engines as you level off. They used to give a pre-flight warning about the takeoff, but the first time I flew out of the airport they did not make an announcement and I was very unsettled until a flight attendant explained it to me
Yeah they dont annouce it at Orange County anymore. I fly out of there a fair bit and don't remember the last time i heard it. It might be just a crew decision and all mine have decided not to, it also might be that unless you're notified, in modern aircraft you barely notice it.
I've watched a number of your videos now, and I have to admit that the one thing I really appreciate seeing, or hearing, is that you've gone to the effort to learn hello's, goodbyes, thank you's, etc in quite a number of different languages. It's something quite small, but so nice to know others make some kind of effort to do this.
Having spent the best part of my working life in that part of the world, I wasn't surprised by your experience. Saudia will get you there eventually, but everything else is just a bonus.
I fly Saudia regularly and insha'Allah, never had any major issues. A couple of delays, but all related to the ongoings in Yemen. Never even lost my bag, which I've been expecting.
The only Arab airline I've flown with is Emirates. Generally, I've found them OK although the last time, despite being encouraged to check in online to be allowed in a 'priority queue' for dropping off our main luggage we just had to line up with everyone else. When we were at Dubai airport, I reported an item of luggage which had been unattended for over half an hour to staff members. No action taken. After about an hour I reported it to the airport police. No action taken. It was still there at the gate when we left.
Pilot here, I fly the A320 family of aircraft which is pretty similar to the A330 family in some ways. Not entirely sure why you would have had such a high climb rate or expedited climb. Could be some kind of saudi airlines SOP, or standard operating procedure, on their A330 but I doubt it. I'm guessing it was a tunis airport/ATC procedure. Could have been something from the particular SID, or standard instrument departure, that they received clearance for. Or maybe ATC requested they expedite their initial climb. I'm really not sure as it was probably airport/airline specific.
@@vetmedin well yeah that too. Wouldn't be too steep though. Noel flies on aircraft for a living so I assume when he says it was pretty steep, it must have been pretty dang steep.
@@elliott7268 realistically it’s near impossible for a passenger to be able to tell if it’s a steep climb or not as they base it on +ve g-loads and not the aircrafts actual ROC.
20:00 The prayer before landing is actually announcement of crossing border called “Meeqaat” that is the point for UMRA passengers to start their state of special dress code called “Ihraam” and this sort of announcement is made on all airlines including British Airways approaching jeddah as it the gateway to Islam holiest place “Makkah” You may google more.. Welcome to Jeddah
MashaaAllah i would love to experience that. Last year i did my umrah but flew from kuala lumpur to medina instead of jeddah. And it was pleasant flying with saudia dreamliner. Planning for umrah again this year and i hope to fly the kul-jed route.
I tell you my story...I was in train for hours with two cringy gays who kiss each other,making sounds to be point of attention and making weird faces to each other and me :D Thats not a adventure. These situations ruin your day.
I spent many years in Saudi & the queues at immigration & customs, where they hand-searched every bag of every passenger, were legendary! Three to four hours was not uncommon!
When you took off you probably entered a no fly zone . the same used to happen when taking off from Bengazi in Libya . passenger comfort never came into it as soon as you had wing clearance it was hard to port or starboard depending on wind direction
Having lived/worked in Riyadh, I flew Saudi often. I found the airport in Riyadh to be fairly efficient and the service on the planes to be friendly. The food is only serviceable and, of course, you cannot get alcohol. Their flights to Geneve and Heathrow were very good and their Business Class prices are amongst the cheapest.
The "you may want to start to pray now" announcement @19:55 is an automated announcement on many airlines' flights bound for Jeddah. It's meant to assist those going to Mecca because they need to know when they reach a certain place to start praying. Jedda Airport serves Mecca, so your flight, like any Jedda flight, was full of pilgrims.
Holy crap, the immigration service, the seat, IFE, and the loo, cannot even imagine that is today's business class. I think the food set off a little that is not the worst experience afterall.
Yeah business class is not what it once was in case you haven't heard. Way too affordable/accessible nowadays so a lot of airliners tend to cut corners.
The business class differs from one plane to another. I ride the company's planes. The business class in the planes available inside the Kingdom is better than this one.
@@MarkLukeFarrell It’s really not though. It’s because the quality of business class is highly dependent on not only the airline but the locations both to and from the destination. Obviously they’re going to put more effort into a flight from London over a flight from Tunis.
Well this is only the segment from TUN. Which is the cheapest departure place for any SV route, even cheaper than CAI. Check out their business class going to BKK, MUC, MIL, etc.
انا سعودي واريد ان اوصل لك معلومة ان طيران السعودية افضل من كذا ولاكن طيران السعودية لاترسل الطائرات الفارهه للدول الفقيره قم بتجربه اخرى من دولة جيدة وسوف ترا
Great video as always Noel. If that was first/business class I would dread to think what economy was like. The toilets were were disgusting and after only one hour of flight. It appears to have been a very poor flight and one to avoid I think. Thanks for uploading these weekly video’s. 👍
انا سعودي واريد ان اوصل لك معلومة ان طيران السعودية افضل من كذا ولاكن طيران السعودية لاترسل الطائرات الفارهه للدول الفقيره قم بتجربه اخرى من دولة جيدة وسوف ترا
It doesn't appear that the toilets were cleaned at all. Disgusting for an airline, third world cleanliness and ground service. The hotel was amazing. I would never travel there as customs and security would intimidate me.
While Saudia is really trying to replicate the "Dubai" model, they still have a long way to go in terms of providing the 'experience' of excellent customer service. I regularly fly between Dubai and Karachi, on both Emirates and FlyDubai, and while FlyDubai is supposed to be a budget airline, the airport staff, the flight crew, the service, everything is just amazing. Its just this difference in service levels that no one can beat Emirates in this game.
Absolutely agree. I went to Saudi for 11 days and was appalled at how rude they were, especially coming from the Uk and being used to excellent customer service. They sure have a very long way to go!
I can see why you were nervous on the initial climb but that is normal for the departure out of Tunis, it is actually a requirement. You MUST fly out of John Wayne/Orange County Airport in LA and experience that initial climb thanks to noise abatement procedures there, LOL. As far as the overall Saudia experience, I have flown on their flights 3 dozen times in the last 30 years and I see that they have not changed any all this time, LOL. The Jeddah airport has the same bad service but if you go to Damman, Riyadh, Al Taif and some other places in the interior, you learn to appreciate Jeddah even more, LOL. Thanks for another great video!
Noel, I used to fly British Airways in the 1980s. On one international flight, as a child I did a personal loo review. I found a plastic tube in the loo with cotton stuffed in it. To a little boy like me, it was strange, so I pulled the cotton out and started blowing into the tube as if it were a flute. As I walked through the isles with my new flute, a stewardess noticed it and snatched it from me. I was shocked at her rudeness! Thank you.
The prayer call near jeddah is only on jeddah planes because it's the main airport for pilgrims coming into makkah and it's a reminder for them to change their clothes and prepare
Wish this year i could fly to jeddah soon for umrah. Last year in january i took a saudia dreamliner from kuala lumpur to medina with a quick stop in riyadh. Pleasant experience 🤍
I had the worst experience at Dammam airport in Saudi Arabia. You have to go through passport control before going through security. I had power extension cords in my carry on, and was given the option of leaving them because they're not allowed, or going to check my carry-on in at check in. I wasn't allowed to go back to check-in because I already went through passport control, so I had to leave my cords. I'd traveled to probably 20+ countries with those cords. It was a nightmare.
I was amazed at how fast you flew through customs. I lived in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, from 1980-1997, and things sure have improved. Not the attitudes, though. Lol But Saudi Arabia is a different beast.
2:30 You took the words right out of my mouth and if I can tell it was a nightmare by watching a edited video from the comfort of my office I can only imagine how you actually felt going through it.
Btw, somewhere amongst the stored Tunisair planes is TS-IML, the first aircaft I ever flew. This flight turned me into an avgeek and 2023 marks 15 years of my professional aviation carreer. Anyway, thank you for your excellent videos, Lord Philips! :-)
I used to be Muslim and they would tell us how you needed to have patience. One of the examples cited was Jeddah customs and immigration during the Hajj. Apparently, patience is required because they're understaffed (deliberately or otherwise). Well done, Saudi immigration control, you turned what should be a high quality customer service experience into a religious exercise which no one should have to go through.
I’d rather be safe than dead so the extra security never bothers me when flying to/from certain places. Also, it helps a great amount if you dress up a bit. I don’t drink alcohol so Saudia is a great choice for me because I can get amazing deals on flights out of JFK with a stop in Jeddah. I typically find the onboard service excellent and their catering is my favourite. So much flavour and fresh food. That old a330 would put me off a bit but their 787s and 777s are top notch.
Yes I was thinking of the dressing up bit too. Whilst it shouldn't make any difference what you ware within reason, turning up looking scruffy just singles you out for any extra checks going.
Pretty sure there is a steep take off requirement out of Tunis due to airspace requirements. Trust me though, Airliners can climb way steeper than most people think they could. There is a ton of power in those engines and when the air is real dense close to the ground…..sheesh. They can really get it.
Check in lady: "business classss?!" She was horrified lol. Other than the on-ground experience, I'd say it looks like they have incredible catering and a decent onboard service. I get the outdated aircraft for a generally short daytime flight. I think the large comfortable seats are adequate, particularly as they have power and USB. Entertainment is definitely outdated, but that didn't surprise me. I wouldn't call this "awful", just average.
You are a very patient man. I would not have put up with the rudeness at Tunis airport (what a rude check in agent and lounge agent). Waving people through security without checking boarding cards was extremely worrying. As for the stewardess closing your blind, I would have put it straight back up. Didn't your friend have a lousy Saudia flight followed by a pretty decent flight a few years later.
What was wrong with the lounge agent? She just looked distracted, not necessarily angry or rude. (It's like if a woman doesn't have a smile pasted on her face 100% of the time, she's perceived as rude or something...)
@@MykkiOnTheCusp When you're supposed to provide customer service, let alone a premium one (as a lounge in an airport), it's not asked too much to suspend your distraction for a few seconds and look at the customer checking in with you.
I am sailor and spending my last years at sea in the northern hemisphere. After 40 years i had enough of this struggle traveling all over the world to join the vessel. Sick it was sometime, chaotic at best, disaster at worst.
The number of times we got asked for our passport at Saudi was actually amusing. So much so, that even after 9 years my husband and I still joke about it 😂😂😂
I lived in Saudi for many years & I had a theory that the Saudi authorities thought that if many people looked at your passport at the airport, it must be ok! Also, it means jobs for the many checkers!
I am traveling to Thailand in November. There was a Saudia Air flight that was lower in price. I reviewed the airline and realized it would take me into Saudia Arabia for a 6 hour layover. No thank you, I would't fly there for free.
Having been in international jobs most of my life and having travelled to 65+ Countries and millions of miles (including living in Saudi Arabia) I can assure you that Noel's attitude is the only way to be. If you react badly to rude service, your day will go from bad to worse, remembering that the rude people serving you have temporary power over your life! They can make life even more difficult if they don't like your attitude. I've witnessed people getting angry with airline or ground staff. It never ends well for them.
I seriously don’t know how you can do this all the time. I hate everything about flying, except maybe for the destination. Without a doubt if I get near any airport, I get horribly sick. The last time I flew, I got a burst eardrum during the flight. I know I sound like a whiny, sickly person, but I’m really not. I think I’m just allergic to flying.
That was one of Noel's best vids and one I have watched a few times and had a great old chuckle too... How he kept his sea legs I really don't know lol
@@The-Anxious-Traveller hey I’ve been subbed to Noel for quite sometime now and haven’t seen the vid your talking about. Sounds great and I’d love to watch it..could someone please point me in the right direction to find it? I mean how long ago or what was the name of the video? I’d greatly appreciate your help in finding this video..thank you in advance and for your time…
I flew into Riyadh King Khalid International Airport and customs queue was not that long for me a bit confusing at first since they were processing national passengers first then they started processing visitors. I’m still in Saudi Arabia I been here since last month and I’m enjoying the country so far, you should fly into Riyadh it’s a nice city here and the locals here are very nice people I’ve had a pleasant stay so far.
@007knick it is. I'm from "there" lol. Saudia airlines are sh!t tho and everyone here knows that lmao there's new two national airlines that would be coming in the next few years
Your experience is so different to what Josh Cahill received on his recent Dreamliner flight from Amsterdam to Jeddah. It would appear that not everyone received the updated training.
i once flown with them from Khartoum Sudan to Riyadh and swore to never do it again , the search at the plane is just demeaning tbh , i went with Qatar airways a few weeks ago and it's a whole other rather lovely experience
Hi Noel, love your work! Always providing insightful and honest reviews. I love the reaction of the check-in lady. Seems like having customers isn't a priority according to her? Keep up the good fight. Much appreciated.
You're a whole lot nicer/calmer than I might have been Noel. It annoys me no end when "customer service" people don't provide what they are being paid for. You experienced a lot of that here. Maybe a good "Saudia Undercover" video for them to figure out where the people that need a fire under them area. Anyways....Saudi Arabia...yeah, no interest in going there. Enjoy.
This is just a guess Noel but I did wonder if that steep climb shortly after leaving Tunis could be related to the close proximity of Libya where conditions are still quite unstable. If I were flying close to Libya I probably wouldn't want to be flying low either.
😂😂😂 you clearly don’t have a clue about anything in aviation. Firstly that steep climb has nothing to do with Libya. It’s either an atc instruction to expedite the climb or a pilot error in increase V/S. Secondly Libyan airspace is safe and has many aircraft overflights. Although it’s limited. It’s generally safe for General avaition
jeddah's airport left a lasting impression on me lol, I was travelling with drum cymbals and the armed security guards did not understand what they were and kept yelling at me 😅😅 all while gripping the assault rifle in their hands, airport was also quite depressing. ---but free wifi though haha
If asked to pray during final approach, pay close attention to whether it is a pre-recorded message, or a live passenger announcement from the cockpit.
Probably the flight used by pilgrims going to Mecca. I worked in Saudi and was in various Ports on Ships i found it ok,back in 1977 you were not allowed to were shorts then but by the 90s you could, back in the day the shopping in Jeddah was great 50 king Edward Cigars in UK were £50, £5 in Jeddah, Seiko watches etc cheap and the real thing. There is a change in engine speed when climbing which can shock you.
Steep angle departure could be a noise mitigation rule for airport; similar to SNA (John Wayne / Orange County ) when you take off to west, over Newport Beach, you go steep angle & then they throttle back engines , until over the Pacific
8:53 lol try to fly out of Santa Ana airport in California. They depart and land at the sharpest angle in the world because of noise abatement procedures. I used to fly out of there often and it is jarring. They also throttle back the engines to a scarry level.
Hi, the prayer made on descend was for umrah goers (pilgrimage). There is a section in flight after entering red sea. Where announcement is made, people change in to the white clothes and pray in the prayers room at back to do the preparation for Umrah pilgrimage. Thats what that was all about.
Re: the steep take off. The security on the jet bridge makes me think there may have been a threat of some sort known at the airport or to the airline. Normally steep take offs like that are done to avoid any ground threats to aircraft
Love watching your reviews. So honest. As someone who works for check in for a ground handling company it allows me to advise my passengers on their destination and help them in any way possible to make sure that their journey is hopefully as stress free as possible. Thankyou 😊
As a ground handler at a UK airport I have to wonder if the woman was in the wrong job. I hate customer facing roles so I freely chose to work on the apron. I avoid the pax areas like the plague. Maybe she should join us in aircraft services or as a ramper?
After playing Rugby in Riyadh in the early 80's we flew back to Dhahran. Most of us were quite pissed but the Saudi's and others on board thought we were funny! Silly thing to do but--we made it!
hey Noel, not sure if someone mentioned this already in comments, but when landing in Jeddah, many passengers in the plane would be heading to Makkah for religious pilgrimage (aka Umrah), especially when flying from a Muslim country like Tunisia, so around 30 minutes before landing the pilot announces the start of the pilgrimage when the plane enters the sacred area where pilgrimage starts, hence the mention: "May Allah accept your good deeds" 🙂
Hey Noel, reason for the pray as the plane was descending was a notification for the passengers that were flying in to saudi for Pilgrimage. There’s a certain zone where each pilgrim have to be in a pure state 😊
I would love to experience that. Last year i performed my umrah flying from kuala lumpur to medina instead of jeddah. Planning for umrah again this year after eid so hopefully it's a kul-jed route 🙂
All the departures at Tunis required a 6% gradient of climb, this is why is so steep until at least 3000fts, at 250 knots its at least 1500ft/min climb. Lot´s of restricted airspace around the airport. Love your videos !! Cheers from Brasil !!!
Great knowledge, thanks
@@conorrclark8274 my pleasure !!!
Thank you for the info.
@@christianwilliams9010 my pleasure Chris !
there you go! I'm guessing there's probably some surface-to-air defense systems around that area LOL definitely don't want to go to slow at certain altitudes around there
The steep pitch was probably due to the check-in lady phoning ahead to the pilots just to put the icing on your cake.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I thought it might be to get out of Libya's missile range? It's Tunisia's neighbour after all. I remember flying from Sydney to Rome on Qantas a few decades ago, the normal flight plan would've taken us over Libya but we avoided it like the plague.
Probably from random flying rounds aimed towards you
No. No it’s because of strict rules around airspace in the area.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I remember departing Tunis back to London. The guy at checkout took my passport and boarding pass then whispered he would give me back my passport if I gave him some money. I told him I had left all my loose change in my hotel room. He tossed my passport back to me in disgust. This was many years ago.
Tunisians seem like a lovely bunch lmao
That seems like a stretch
@@ShakirUddin-hu3gk It's not. Same experience. I traveled to Tunis for work with some regularity, and we were always given an "official per diem" on top of the standard per diem. Its purpose was clear. One one of my something like 10 flights to Tunis pre-COVID, I was given the option of doing passport control "the easy way" or "the hard way". I paid for the easy way.
@@madlad4206 Well at least they do not do Genocide.
I am Tunisian and the capital is known to have many rude and greedy people and especially the vulgarity in language seem more common(not all of them obviously so tunisians, don’t curse me)
I personally avoid Tunis airport
Try Djerba or Hammamet or Nabeul, people in those region are more polite and welcoming
If the staff cannnot be bothered to be pleasant let someone do the job.
Manners cost nothing.
Thank you for your review.
Never judge someone at work. We never know if something happened prior to making the judgement
caste system
She seemed stressed out. In large swathes of the world including Europe you're not likely to get a smile from someone who's stressed out. Only people from the US and parts of Asia (Thailand etc.) bother to plaster that fake smile on their face when their job is 💩
@@reffyfikserting you must be right as there is nothing more annoying then going to a pool party after a flight. Yesterday was my chance to rest but had to go to annoying barbeque party on Al Jazeera beach. I slept with girls from every airline in the middle east That's a lie did not do anything from Qatar Airlines, I ask my friends from Etihad if they can hook me up,
@@jasminerice00 I've worked in customer service and it was always the same nationalities with attitude problems. 😅 I'm sad to say this, but muslim women were some of the most rude customers I've ever met...some African women were friendly, some were downright aggressive. Yes we all have our bad days, but I never encountered a poorly behaving Japanese or US citizen, for example (those exist, I know).
Don't worry my friend, even I, a Tunisian native, am treated like shit.. I actually dread departing and arriving to carthage :')
He is not your friend...if he can, he will use you like a toilet paper and then flush you away.
Good to know it wasn't personal 😂
@@RizTravellerAre you a Tunisian customer service agent? Sounds like it.
@@adamjacksonmedia Glad to expose Adams and jackson's of this world and their views about Tunisia.
@RizTraveller Yes... Tunisians are just like anyone else.
However, apparently their customer service sucks.
Thank you for exposing my views.
That attitude of that check in woman was staggeringly bad, the utter contempt on her face as she looked at you.
Perhaps it was the camera?
she almost qualified for the UK railways but didn't quite reach the levels of contempt they have so had to make do with this job instead
i have to agreed
YES
she was indeed arrogant~
maybe somebody holding business tickets asking a favor to have FREE Upgrade~
and she was frustrated
u know Arabs have "NO" word in their dictionary
@@steevobarker581 Yes, because good customer service is about making lifelong friends isn't it?
They are so miserable 😂😂
What a horrible experience a the airport, and quite a grim looking airport. I recoiled at the point where the lounge receptionist slapped your pass back down on the desk without even a cursory attempt at eye contact, let alone a smile. It was like one of those corporate videos where they show their staff how not to treat a customer. Still, at least you were able to enjoy some light dinning.
She was so rude!
Absolutely ridiculous treatment. Should've engaged the customer by asking, "Is it hot out there?"
Kinda like how many public servants in the USA treats its citizens.
I thought I was the only one who noticed.
@@oldtwinsna8347 😭
The rule with many Middle Easter airlines (some more, others less) is that if you fly a route to a third-world country (South Asia, Africa) vs another route to East Asia, EU, or NA, it is like flying two different airlines or two different classes. Some airlines reduce the difference and others just expose it, but the gap is ALWAYS there. Part of it is down to the passengers too.
Yup, basically one side of the airline is trying to compete with Emirates the other is "Hajj express" for pilgrims from poor countries.
Why not just create 2 brands tho
@@lassikinnunen Many do. We have FlyDubai, Air Arabia, and Flynas.
This is absolutely my experience.
yep, I just flown Etihad from Jakarta to Rome, and the segment from Jakarta isn't even operated by Etihad
Just flown in and out of Hurguarda Egypt as disabled traveller , I've done this with friends many times but this time our experience was dreadful beyond dreadful. There security is so tight which we're used to but so forceful and disrespectful to us when we arrived to none of our mobility equipment and left us at gate with no wheelchair or other assistance. We eventually found our own scooters and wheel chairs behind some unmarked door by baggage. But usually we praise how efficient they are and it was a startling contrast this time. Attitudes too
Having a made a few Saudia flights recently, totally agree on your comments. Great food and cabin crew, but the rest of the experience is poor, especially compared with Emirates. They managed to lose my bag, but quickly recovered it, but then failed to let me know. So close but so far.
Dear Noel, unfailingly polite in the face of blunt rudeness - I couldn't do it! Hope the rest of your flights are better. 😊
Its the British way. If we’re super polite, we don’t like you
@@YannickoYT Nobody does passive-aggressive sarcasm like us Brits. 😂
Hey, they (“..the rest of your flights are better.”) can only GO UP - pun intended!😎🇺🇸
He probably wouldn't have been quite so 'unfailingly polite' if he wasn't recording the whole thing, though.
@@smikejasper4461
Uh, but Noel wasn’t passive aggressive _AT ALL._ He was simply *passive.* He said “uh, okay,” and scurried off with his tail in between his legs. There’s zero spine in this guy lmfao.
The woman at 2:00 seemed so upset that you actually had business class.
She was waiting for "not, Economic class" and then "This is only Business Class, get the #$%# out of here".
It’s the hoody
Typical Tunisian woman , they do the same to everyone who isn't a Muslim unfortunately
SOOO RUDE! Hey, its not my fault that you HATE your job.....
@@solarevalo3588 Exactly. I felt her attitude through the screen.
What a bunch of rude employees at the airport You are always so kind.....many please and thank yous all the time! You def didn't deserve that
I made the same mistake of flying with this airline, the whole process was anti passenger from checkin to off-boarding. Not enough staff, super long queues, what felt like secret police bag searches. Horrible.
Is this the same as Saudi Arabian airlines?
when did u fly them?
She was just itching to tell you to go check in somewhere else. Atrocious customer service.
how would you be with a camera shoved in your face when you're trying to do your job......
@@jimhache765
Yikes man. She works at an AIRPORT. You know, where tourists with cameras are EVERYWHERE?! That’s the job she took, and if she can’t treat tourists kindly, then she needs to find a different job. _SHE’S_ the one with the problem.
'service with a scowl'...you weren't wrong there!😖 That was another excellent video. These are always gems Noel, cheers for doing them. That hotel at the end was fantastic!
Glad you enjoyed it
@@noelphilips
7:05 Regarding the typo you asked us about... you didn’t think it was “yoghurt,” did you? Because some spell it like that.
There’s actually _TWO_ typos I found though: Both of the words “tagine” and “boukhari” aren’t supposed to be spelled that way. How do I know? I had to look up the words because I didn’t know what they were! Haha.
I’ll leave you to look them up too, so you can learn their proper spelling if you’re interested and you didn’t realize that one or both words were misspelled. ;) My mom drilled into my head when I was young that looking things up myself makes the word/definition easier to remember, versus her simply giving me the answer. She was right!
@@anti-ethniccleansing465The typo is actually in the sub-heading "Light Dinning" instead of "Light Dining".
@@shashankr5180 Also Arrabbiata was misspelled
The staff at Tunis Airport is a scandal. How dare you addressing and bothering them with your presence... ? Reminds me of the old Soviet Union "shut up and do as you are told" attitude. But Noel never loses his good humor, does he ? That makes this series so special.
It's the total disorganisation that really grates. Years of domestic airports in India have taught be tolerance beyond my years
But the old Soviet Union never hijacked our airliners and murdered thousands of innocent Americans - (They got away with it thanks to G W Bush)
i am a tall white western man. i thoroughly enjoy going to parts of the world where i actually get treated like shit, it makes a nice change to have the tables turned
I think if I lived in Tunisia, I'd be as miserable as sin too.
Rudest airpot I have ever experienced was Atlanta international arrivals. The shout and coral you like you are on the prison exercise yard. SFO and Dulles also bad. US airports have been the worst for shouty officials!
I remember flying out of Tunis back to europe like 10 years ago. The take off had a very high climb rate in combination with a pretty tight left turn. Meaning steep pitch up while sitting at a pretty high bank angle very close to the ground. I knew the plane could easily handle this maneuver, still felt uncomfortable af as a passenger.
After reaching cruising altitude the pilot sort of apologised and said he had to perform this maneuver due to restricted airspace. The presidential residence isn't (or at least wasn't) allowed to be overflown and the runway we were taking off from was aiming at it.
Edit: Your flight path at 15:30 looks like you were using the same runway. The presidential residence is near Carthage and it looks like you were flying over it. Maybe you are allowed to do so now at a certain altitude and thats why the climb was so steep?
Restricted airspace requires the steep climb.
The takeoff angle sounds a lot like the Orange County California Airport noise abatement takeoff that starts off super steep like a rocket ship, then once out over the ocean it almost seems like they turn off the engines as you level off. They used to give a pre-flight warning about the takeoff, but the first time I flew out of the airport they did not make an announcement and I was very unsettled until a flight attendant explained it to me
Yeah they dont annouce it at Orange County anymore. I fly out of there a fair bit and don't remember the last time i heard it. It might be just a crew decision and all mine have decided not to, it also might be that unless you're notified, in modern aircraft you barely notice it.
I've watched a number of your videos now, and I have to admit that the one thing I really appreciate seeing, or hearing, is that you've gone to the effort to learn hello's, goodbyes, thank you's, etc in quite a number of different languages. It's something quite small, but so nice to know others make some kind of effort to do this.
You stayed so polite
in this case not even that helped, I did not see one person smiling
Wow, these kind of rude people should never be dealing with customers.
Noel, you're a very brave man to video the security personnel at the airport. We're they aware you filming them???
Having spent the best part of my working life in that part of the world, I wasn't surprised by your experience. Saudia will get you there eventually, but everything else is just a bonus.
I fly Saudia regularly and insha'Allah, never had any major issues. A couple of delays, but all related to the ongoings in Yemen. Never even lost my bag, which I've been expecting.
That last security check wasn't looking for weapons or drugs, it was for booze, pork and porn.
That hotel room was incredible for the cost! So nice! I'm sure it was comfy too! Thank you for sharing your experiences with the rest of us. :)
All fur coat, no knickers. 😅
Too bad half of us in the human race wouldn't be allowed to stay there by ourselves.
The only Arab airline I've flown with is Emirates. Generally, I've found them OK although the last time, despite being encouraged to check in online to be allowed in a 'priority queue' for dropping off our main luggage we just had to line up with everyone else. When we were at Dubai airport, I reported an item of luggage which had been unattended for over half an hour to staff members. No action taken. After about an hour I reported it to the airport police. No action taken. It was still there at the gate when we left.
Qatar Airways is also very good. Worked in ME for a number of years and Emirates, Ethiad and Qatar are the best.
Pilot here, I fly the A320 family of aircraft which is pretty similar to the A330 family in some ways. Not entirely sure why you would have had such a high climb rate or expedited climb. Could be some kind of saudi airlines SOP, or standard operating procedure, on their A330 but I doubt it. I'm guessing it was a tunis airport/ATC procedure. Could have been something from the particular SID, or standard instrument departure, that they received clearance for. Or maybe ATC requested they expedite their initial climb. I'm really not sure as it was probably airport/airline specific.
or 1+F with high trend vector😅
@@vetmedin well yeah that too. Wouldn't be too steep though. Noel flies on aircraft for a living so I assume when he says it was pretty steep, it must have been pretty dang steep.
@@elliott7268 realistically it’s near impossible for a passenger to be able to tell if it’s a steep climb or not as they base it on +ve g-loads and not the aircrafts actual ROC.
@@Elnino2910 well yes you are kind of right, but you can still tell after decades of flying wether or not a climb out is steeper than usual.
@@Elnino2910 There's also the angle between the window and the horizon.
20:00 The prayer before landing is actually announcement of crossing border called “Meeqaat” that is the point for UMRA passengers to start their state of special dress code called “Ihraam” and this sort of announcement is made on all airlines including British Airways approaching jeddah as it the gateway to Islam holiest place “Makkah”
You may google more..
Welcome to Jeddah
MashaaAllah i would love to experience that. Last year i did my umrah but flew from kuala lumpur to medina instead of jeddah. And it was pleasant flying with saudia dreamliner. Planning for umrah again this year and i hope to fly the kul-jed route.
As a foreigner, one must always look at each trip as an "adventure" otherwise each "surprise" becomes a disappointment. 😮
I tell you my story...I was in train for hours with two cringy gays who kiss each other,making sounds to be point of attention and making weird faces to each other and me :D Thats not a adventure. These situations ruin your day.
@@Komotau4691 I'm sorry, would it be better if it was two women instead for you? lol
@@ErikMitch In this case its should be better to be alone lol
@@Komotau4691well, I’ve seen the same thing between a man and a woman 😂 I didn’t want to see that.
I spent many years in Saudi & the queues at immigration & customs, where they hand-searched every bag of every passenger, were legendary!
Three to four hours was not uncommon!
When you took off you probably entered a no fly zone . the same used to happen when taking off from Bengazi in Libya . passenger comfort never came into it as soon as you had wing clearance it was hard to port or starboard depending on wind direction
Wow that's pretty awful customer service. Oh you're business class? 🙄 Wait! 😡
I know right! I was fuming while watching that
He should have said, yes, I am doing a revue on staff attitudes 😂
Having lived/worked in Riyadh, I flew Saudi often. I found the airport in Riyadh to be fairly efficient and the service on the planes to be friendly. The food is only serviceable and, of course, you cannot get alcohol. Their flights to Geneve and Heathrow were very good and their Business Class prices are amongst the cheapest.
The "you may want to start to pray now" announcement @19:55 is an automated announcement on many airlines' flights bound for Jeddah. It's meant to assist those going to Mecca because they need to know when they reach a certain place to start praying. Jedda Airport serves Mecca, so your flight, like any Jedda flight, was full of pilgrims.
Thanks for clarifying that ... I thought because it's a muslim airline, just like my parents used to tell me a little prayer never hurts anyone.
"Service with a scowl". Priceless humour!.
Holy crap, the immigration service, the seat, IFE, and the loo, cannot even imagine that is today's business class. I think the food set off a little that is not the worst experience afterall.
Yeah business class is not what it once was in case you haven't heard. Way too affordable/accessible nowadays so a lot of airliners tend to cut corners.
The business class differs from one plane to another. I ride the company's planes. The business class in the planes available inside the Kingdom is better than this one.
@@MarkLukeFarrell It’s really not though. It’s because the quality of business class is highly dependent on not only the airline but the locations both to and from the destination. Obviously they’re going to put more effort into a flight from London over a flight from Tunis.
Well this is only the segment from TUN. Which is the cheapest departure place for any SV route, even cheaper than CAI. Check out their business class going to BKK, MUC, MIL, etc.
انا سعودي واريد ان اوصل لك معلومة ان طيران السعودية افضل من كذا ولاكن طيران السعودية لاترسل الطائرات الفارهه للدول الفقيره قم بتجربه اخرى من دولة جيدة وسوف ترا
Great video as always Noel. If that was first/business class I would dread to think what economy was like. The toilets were were disgusting and after only one hour of flight. It appears to have been a very poor flight and one to avoid I think. Thanks for uploading these weekly video’s. 👍
Thank you for watching!
@@noelphilips I've seen cleaner portable toilets after a day of sporting events.
انا سعودي واريد ان اوصل لك معلومة ان طيران السعودية افضل من كذا ولاكن طيران السعودية لاترسل الطائرات الفارهه للدول الفقيره قم بتجربه اخرى من دولة جيدة وسوف ترا
@@nhc__shit service for the shit people…. That’s not a winning business strategy for the rest of the world.
It doesn't appear that the toilets were cleaned at all. Disgusting for an airline, third world cleanliness and ground service. The hotel was amazing. I would never travel there as customs and security would intimidate me.
While Saudia is really trying to replicate the "Dubai" model, they still have a long way to go in terms of providing the 'experience' of excellent customer service. I regularly fly between Dubai and Karachi, on both Emirates and FlyDubai, and while FlyDubai is supposed to be a budget airline, the airport staff, the flight crew, the service, everything is just amazing. Its just this difference in service levels that no one can beat Emirates in this game.
Absolutely agree. I went to Saudi for 11 days and was appalled at how rude they were, especially coming from the Uk and being used to excellent customer service. They sure have a very long way to go!
@@aysh444
Well imagine living there? How could anyone not be miserable?
I can see why you were nervous on the initial climb but that is normal for the departure out of Tunis, it is actually a requirement. You MUST fly out of John Wayne/Orange County Airport in LA and experience that initial climb thanks to noise abatement procedures there, LOL. As far as the overall Saudia experience, I have flown on their flights 3 dozen times in the last 30 years and I see that they have not changed any all this time, LOL. The Jeddah airport has the same bad service but if you go to Damman, Riyadh, Al Taif and some other places in the interior, you learn to appreciate Jeddah even more, LOL. Thanks for another great video!
Noel, I used to fly British Airways in the 1980s. On one international flight, as a child I did a personal loo review.
I found a plastic tube in the loo with cotton stuffed in it. To a little boy like me, it was strange, so I pulled the cotton out and started blowing into the tube as if it were a flute.
As I walked through the isles with my new flute, a stewardess noticed it and snatched it from me. I was shocked at her rudeness!
Thank you.
Lol thank you this comment made my day 😂
Bruh what
@@burnout10567 tampon.
Hopefully it wasn’t used
I did the same thing at home. My mom quickly took away my new telescope.
The prayer call near jeddah is only on jeddah planes because it's the main airport for pilgrims coming into makkah and it's a reminder for them to change their clothes and prepare
Wish this year i could fly to jeddah soon for umrah. Last year in january i took a saudia dreamliner from kuala lumpur to medina with a quick stop in riyadh. Pleasant experience 🤍
I had the worst experience at Dammam airport in Saudi Arabia.
You have to go through passport control before going through security. I had power extension cords in my carry on, and was given the option of leaving them because they're not allowed, or going to check my carry-on in at check in. I wasn't allowed to go back to check-in because I already went through passport control, so I had to leave my cords. I'd traveled to probably 20+ countries with those cords. It was a nightmare.
I've flown through Dammam many, many times and never had such an issue. Is this a new rule?
@@stevenbrown62 They told me that power extension cords were not allowed. I know because I had to leave two of mine and had to purchase new ones.
@@stevenbrown62 Rules are defined by the person in charge at that time and his mood.
I was amazed at how fast you flew through customs. I lived in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, from 1980-1997, and things sure have improved. Not the attitudes, though. Lol But Saudi Arabia is a different beast.
I lived up north in Jubail 78 - 86. I actually miss it!
@@ab-ts7md I do too!
2:30 You took the words right out of my mouth and if I can tell it was a nightmare by watching a edited video from the comfort of my office I can only imagine how you actually felt going through it.
Btw, somewhere amongst the stored Tunisair planes is TS-IML, the first aircaft I ever flew. This flight turned me into an avgeek and 2023 marks 15 years of my professional aviation carreer.
Anyway, thank you for your excellent videos, Lord Philips! :-)
Two people on passport desks to serve several widebody flights? Sounds like Heathrow! 🙂
Sounds like the airport in Florence Italy
@@pegcity4evaor Berlin
I used to be Muslim and they would tell us how you needed to have patience. One of the examples cited was Jeddah customs and immigration during the Hajj. Apparently, patience is required because they're understaffed (deliberately or otherwise).
Well done, Saudi immigration control, you turned what should be a high quality customer service experience into a religious exercise which no one should have to go through.
I’d rather be safe than dead so the extra security never bothers me when flying to/from certain places. Also, it helps a great amount if you dress up a bit.
I don’t drink alcohol so Saudia is a great choice for me because I can get amazing deals on flights out of JFK with a stop in Jeddah. I typically find the onboard service excellent and their catering is my favourite. So much flavour and fresh food.
That old a330 would put me off a bit but their 787s and 777s are top notch.
Yes I was thinking of the dressing up bit too.
Whilst it shouldn't make any difference what you ware within reason, turning up looking scruffy just singles you out for any extra checks going.
Pretty sure there is a steep take off requirement out of Tunis due to airspace requirements.
Trust me though, Airliners can climb way steeper than most people think they could. There is a ton of power in those engines and when the air is real dense close to the ground…..sheesh. They can really get it.
Check in lady: "business classss?!" She was horrified lol.
Other than the on-ground experience, I'd say it looks like they have incredible catering and a decent onboard service. I get the outdated aircraft for a generally short daytime flight. I think the large comfortable seats are adequate, particularly as they have power and USB. Entertainment is definitely outdated, but that didn't surprise me. I wouldn't call this "awful", just average.
You are a very patient man. I would not have put up with the rudeness at Tunis airport (what a rude check in agent and lounge agent). Waving people through security without checking boarding cards was extremely worrying. As for the stewardess closing your blind, I would have put it straight back up. Didn't your friend have a lousy Saudia flight followed by a pretty decent flight a few years later.
What was wrong with the lounge agent? She just looked distracted, not necessarily angry or rude. (It's like if a woman doesn't have a smile pasted on her face 100% of the time, she's perceived as rude or something...)
@@MykkiOnTheCusp Same
@@MykkiOnTheCusp When you're supposed to provide customer service, let alone a premium one (as a lounge in an airport), it's not asked too much to suspend your distraction for a few seconds and look at the customer checking in with you.
She probably closed the blind so you didn’t have glare on your screen.
If he really wanted it open, he could have simply said ‘no thanks’. Geesh.
I am sailor and spending my last years at sea in the northern hemisphere. After 40 years i had enough of this struggle traveling all over the world to join the vessel. Sick it was sometime, chaotic at best, disaster at worst.
Between the heightened security and the steep climb out, it almost seems like they were being extra cautious about something.
Payback for what westerners think of their people😢
Hand held missiles.
They have to be extra cautious in that part of the world
The number of times we got asked for our passport at Saudi was actually amusing. So much so, that even after 9 years my husband and I still joke about it 😂😂😂
I lived in Saudi for many years & I had a theory that the Saudi authorities thought that if many people looked at your passport at the airport, it must be ok!
Also, it means jobs for the many checkers!
I am traveling to Thailand in November. There was a Saudia Air flight that was lower in price. I reviewed the airline and realized it would take me into Saudia Arabia for a 6 hour layover. No thank you, I would't fly there for free.
why you wouldn't fly there for free ?
Countries that hate tourists so much deserve none
:(
Wow. That lady at checkin really didn’t hide her disgust.
Lord Noel, where do you buy so much patience from? That was an absolutely horrendous nightmare! Well done to you, thanks for the video
Many thanks!
Not so bad. The pilot didn’t fly into a building.
Having been in international jobs most of my life and having travelled to 65+ Countries and millions of miles (including living in Saudi Arabia) I can assure you that Noel's attitude is the only way to be. If you react badly to rude service, your day will go from bad to worse, remembering that the rude people serving you have temporary power over your life! They can make life even more difficult if they don't like your attitude. I've witnessed people getting angry with airline or ground staff. It never ends well for them.
The lines and "friendly" customer service are enough to scare a lot of tourism away.
I seriously don’t know how you can do this all the time. I hate everything about flying, except maybe for the destination. Without a doubt if I get near any airport, I get horribly sick. The last time I flew, I got a burst eardrum during the flight. I know I sound like a whiny, sickly person, but I’m really not. I think I’m just allergic to flying.
Good on Noel for not drinking any longer. We all remember the time he emptied a ships entire minibar in about twenty minutes.
That video was hilarious. It's one of my favorite videos Noel has ever done.
That was one of Noel's best vids and one I have watched a few times and had a great old chuckle too... How he kept his sea legs I really don't know lol
@@The-Anxious-Traveller hey I’ve been subbed to Noel for quite sometime now and haven’t seen the vid your talking about. Sounds great and I’d love to watch it..could someone please point me in the right direction to find it? I mean how long ago or what was the name of the video? I’d greatly appreciate your help in finding this video..thank you in advance and for your time…
Do you have a link?
Pass the link along. I’d love to see it as well😂
I flew into Riyadh King Khalid International Airport and customs queue was not that long for me a bit confusing at first since they were processing national passengers first then they started processing visitors. I’m still in Saudi Arabia I been here since last month and I’m enjoying the country so far, you should fly into Riyadh it’s a nice city here and the locals here are very nice people I’ve had a pleasant stay so far.
Welcome to Riyadh 🥰
I can imagine Saudia’s management will be cringing on seeing this one 🤨🛬
If TH-cam is even allowed there….
@007knick it is. I'm from "there" lol. Saudia airlines are sh!t tho and everyone here knows that lmao there's new two national airlines that would be coming in the next few years
1:50 BUSINESS CLASS?! 😂😂
I'm always impressed by how even tempered and polite you are in the face of terrible service!
@21:15 " ...and the crew were friendly". I don't consider closing your window blind without asking you first very friendly.
Your experience is so different to what Josh Cahill received on his recent Dreamliner flight from Amsterdam to Jeddah.
It would appear that not everyone received the updated training.
i once flown with them from Khartoum Sudan to Riyadh and swore to never do it again , the search at the plane is just demeaning tbh , i went with Qatar airways a few weeks ago and it's a whole other rather lovely experience
Hi Noel, love your work! Always providing insightful and honest reviews. I love the reaction of the check-in lady. Seems like having customers isn't a priority according to her? Keep up the good fight. Much appreciated.
Thanks for watching!
Saudi is officially A dry country but I can assure you that they drink a LOT alcohol behind the curtains.
How could they check everyone’s bag at the gate without adding a good hour’s delay? Hopefully they started boarding early.
The woman slapping your boarding pass back down on the counter and not even acknowledging you as you entered the lounge... wow
You're a whole lot nicer/calmer than I might have been Noel. It annoys me no end when "customer service" people don't provide what they are being paid for. You experienced a lot of that here. Maybe a good "Saudia Undercover" video for them to figure out where the people that need a fire under them area. Anyways....Saudi Arabia...yeah, no interest in going there. Enjoy.
The take-off sounds like a tactical take-off. Used to get as high up as quickly as you can to avoid small arms fire.
As someone who works in the humidification industry I’d be more worried about all the germs floating in the air with humidity that low!
This is just a guess Noel but I did wonder if that steep climb shortly after leaving Tunis could be related to the close proximity of Libya where conditions are still quite unstable. If I were flying close to Libya I probably wouldn't want to be flying low either.
😂😂😂 you clearly don’t have a clue about anything in aviation. Firstly that steep climb has nothing to do with Libya. It’s either an atc instruction to expedite the climb or a pilot error in increase V/S. Secondly Libyan airspace is safe and has many aircraft overflights. Although it’s limited. It’s generally safe for General avaition
it's over 500km from Tunis to the Libyan border
@@houseclearance7509 So much for that guess then!
Ground to air launchers.
ماعلاقة الإقلاع بليبيا إنها بعيدة مئات الكيلو مترات 😂😂
jeddah's airport left a lasting impression on me lol, I was travelling with drum cymbals and the armed security guards did not understand what they were and kept yelling at me 😅😅 all while gripping the assault rifle in their hands, airport was also quite depressing. ---but free wifi though haha
Why didn't you give them an impromptu demonstration of how they work?
If asked to pray during final approach, pay close attention to whether it is a pre-recorded message, or a live passenger announcement from the cockpit.
Probably the flight used by pilgrims going to Mecca. I worked in Saudi and was in various Ports on Ships i found it ok,back in 1977 you were not allowed to were shorts then but by the 90s you could, back in the day the shopping in Jeddah was great 50 king Edward Cigars in UK were £50, £5 in Jeddah, Seiko watches etc cheap and the real thing. There is a change in engine speed when climbing which can shock you.
Hey Noel, was that you applauding? if they told me you start praying on descent, I'd be screaming to cried my eyes out. You were one brave Brit
I don’t understand why it angers people when you need their service. I’ve worked in customer service, I don’t understand it
Well that woman at the start checking you in was damn well rude!! Hope she sued the charm school!! 😆
Thanks for this, Tunisia is now off my list of places to visit what an unfriendly lot they seem.
Steep angle departure could be a noise mitigation rule for airport; similar to SNA (John Wayne / Orange County ) when you take off to west, over Newport Beach, you go steep angle & then they throttle back engines , until over the Pacific
That's my thought.
Agreed! A330’s engines are normally very loud. Unlike A350 is super quiet.
8:53 lol try to fly out of Santa Ana airport in California. They depart and land at the sharpest angle in the world because of noise abatement procedures. I used to fly out of there often and it is jarring. They also throttle back the engines to a scarry level.
Hi, the prayer made on descend was for umrah goers (pilgrimage). There is a section in flight after entering red sea. Where announcement is made, people change in to the white clothes and pray in the prayers room at back to do the preparation for Umrah pilgrimage. Thats what that was all about.
noel i can't express how much i love your sense of humour and flight reviews. absolutely love you, legend
Glad you like them!
Re: the steep take off. The security on the jet bridge makes me think there may have been a threat of some sort known at the airport or to the airline. Normally steep take offs like that are done to avoid any ground threats to aircraft
Love watching your reviews. So honest. As someone who works for check in for a ground handling company it allows me to advise my passengers on their destination and help them in any way possible to make sure that their journey is hopefully as stress free as possible. Thankyou 😊
Thanks for that!
As a ground handler at a UK airport I have to wonder if the woman was in the wrong job. I hate customer facing roles so I freely chose to work on the apron. I avoid the pax areas like the plague. Maybe she should join us in aircraft services or as a ramper?
as a saudi myself, i never seen it this bad before 🙄😳 im so embarrassed and shocked! im so sorry..
After playing Rugby in Riyadh in the early 80's we flew back to Dhahran. Most of us were quite pissed but the Saudi's and others on board thought we were funny! Silly thing to do but--we made it!
That is possibly the rudest check-in agent that I have seen in my life
If you think that's the rudest, you haven't flown on Air Canada out of Vancouver.
@@emeraldmurphy8272 I don't live in Canada, so I can't relate
"This one hasn't got a strap on". Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd hear on one of Noel's videos!
Superb video as usual. You are the best aviation youtuber out there. Keep on the good work, Lord Noel!
Cheers from Sweden 🇸🇪
Thank you Tommy!
Thank you so much for visiting us in tunis, I didnt think i was ever going to stumble upon a travel youtuber going to such an unknown location
hey Noel, not sure if someone mentioned this already in comments, but when landing in Jeddah, many passengers in the plane would be heading to Makkah for religious pilgrimage (aka Umrah), especially when flying from a Muslim country like Tunisia, so around 30 minutes before landing the pilot announces the start of the pilgrimage when the plane enters the sacred area where pilgrimage starts, hence the mention: "May Allah accept your good deeds" 🙂
That first part was proper painful to watch.
Jeddah's new airport is sick though.
not the two people clapping when the plane landed
Hey Noel, reason for the pray as the plane was descending was a notification for the passengers that were flying in to saudi for Pilgrimage. There’s a certain zone where each pilgrim have to be in a pure state 😊
I would love to experience that. Last year i performed my umrah flying from kuala lumpur to medina instead of jeddah. Planning for umrah again this year after eid so hopefully it's a kul-jed route 🙂
Carthage Airport has some beautiful architecture. It looks more like a train station.
The section might have not been business class but the food certainly looked like it🔥,
Good review