Qatar Airways Business Class: London - Doha - Melbourne and return

UPDATE - I've posted a review of a more recent flight with Qatar Airways here.

In contrast to local rivals Emirates and Etihad, Qatar Aiways does not serve every town in Australia - it only operates a single daily service to Melbourne from Doha.  However, I had to conduct some business in Melbourne and Qatar's business class fares are ludicrously inexpensive, so it suited me down to the ground.

I'll run through various aspects of the flight below, but should mention that two  things really stood out.  Firstly, the transfer operation Qatar run through Doha is simply awesome.  My outbound schedule had a 45 minute connection time which I was slightly nervous about then, on the return, a technical problem in Melbourne meant that I landed in Doha just as my London flight was supposed to depart.  In both instances both myself and my luggage made the connection and arrived at the final destination on schedule.

Secondly, I was struck by the very noticeable difference in atmosphere between the London to Doha sectors and the Doha to Melbourne sectors.  The business class cabin between London and Doha, in both directions, was dominated by Qatari nationals, while First class was fully occupied, exclusively by Qatari's.  The flights between Doha and Melbourne have no First Class, but the business class cabin was packed with Australians and definitely featured a lot more in the way of alcohol consumption.

The Seats

The business class seat on the small fleet of A340-600s that Qatar uses, almost exclusively, for flights to London and Paris is, I believe the same as on its A330s - a middle of the road flat, but sloping, seat in a 2-2-2 configuration.  Your feet and ankles slide into a space under the seat ahead when fully reclined.  It's perfectly adequate for the short (6 hour) daylight flights between Europe and the Gulf.  The problem is that it can't help but feel cramped after a short connection from one of Qatar's 777s.

None of Qatar's 777-300ER and 777-200LR fleet offer First Class, but all feature business class seats which are larger than most airline's first class product.  Unlike many 777 business class cabins, seating is six, not seven, abreast, so there is no middle seat.  This means a very generous 22 inches of width.  The layout is traditional, there's no backward-facing seats, herringbones or offset foot-wells, but the pitch is so large that, even when fully flat, you don't touch the seat in front - your feet are never trapped in a restrictive little cubby hole.

On the long flights, Qatar also provide a sort of mattress to cover the seat with when it's fully reclined; further enhancing comfort.

Entertainment

I'm not a huge IFE junkie, but Qatar do offer an excellent product, hundreds of films and TV shows available on demand.

Food and Drink 

Qatar consistently win awards for the standard of their in-flight wine.  I was strangely unimpressed with all the reds and whites on offer - I'm sure they were terribly costly, but they were all so sweet.  The champagne selection, on the other hand, was a real treat.

Mixed drinks and spirits were available to order and delivered promptly.

Without question, Qatar's business class food is the best I've ever been served in air.  The food was tasty, in large portions and, beautifully presented.  I've included a selection of pictures, for your delectation (hover over them for brief descriptions).

The food service differed between the two sectors, but I think that's the results of flight duration rather than a different policy.

On boarding, you are presented with a, leather-bound, menu and wine list and asked what you'd like after take-off.  The menu makes it clear that all items are available, on request, throughout the flight.  On the shorter flights, between London and Doha, it seemed that few people requested anything extra until the crew solicited another round of orders about 90 minutes before landing.  Although, on the return, when I awoke hungry, they were more than happy to make what I wanted.  On the very long sectors between Doha and Melbourne, everybody was ordering at different times and the staff didn't blink an eye.

      

Service

There's no denying that service on these flights was good - any requests for food or drink were fulfilled promptly and courteously and, I suppose, that's all most people really care about.  However, there is something missing and it's very hard to define exactly what.  No request was met with anything other than courtesy, but it all seemed rather robotic and unenthusiastic.  We all know that most of the older airlines have some terrible crews and others which are just fantastic, Qatar's crews were consistently following the letter of the manual and I'm not sure that's preferable.

Overall, this was a great flight and, given the shorter flight times, a fine way to reach Australia; most of the negative points are just minor details.  Is the experience good enough to consider the long detour through Doha when travelling to the Far East?  In truth, if Qatar's business class fares remain as low as they currently are, then it probably is.

Reward junkies should note that even the discounted business class ticket resulted in a generous number of miles.  Qatar is not a member of any alliance but Star Alliance miles can be collected through the BMI and, I think, ANA schemes.

Comments

[Michael]

Are you eluding to the fact all Aussies are big drinkers?? Rubbish! I would also like to set you straight, the journey through Qatar is in fact more convenient than connecting through Asia somewhere. Both one-stop experiences. And Another thing, the wines are not all sweet with the excellent Haute Lafytte, not to mention mersault. There was also an excellent Aussie Shiraz. Their cognac is XO better than many other airlines first class offering on the whole.