Flight Review Qatar Airways Economy Class Part 1: A380
Qatar Airways has emerged as one of the world leading airlines, both quantitatively and qualitatively. It consistently ranks at the top of whichever airline quality rank you choose to look at, so, it was about time I reviewed their economy class product.
This flight had also the added incentive that it was on an Airbus A380, believe it or not, a first for me! I have been many times onboard A380s before, but always on the ground!
So bad Airbus has discontinued the A380 production line, because the aircraft totally lived to my expectations when it comes to the overall experience. If I had to highlight a specific thing, it would be the smoothness of the descent into Doha, almost as if the aircraft was just floating gracefully, almost no noise. Amazing plane!
So what follows is my Qatar Airways flight report of my economy class flight between London and Doha, where I took an onward connection to Riyadh in an A350-1000, but about that other onward flight I will write a report later on.
Flight# QR10
From: London Heathrow (LHR)
To: Doha (DOH)
Flight time: 6h 25min
Aircraft: Airbus A380
Pre-flight experience
Well, not much to say here, besides a positive and a not so positive observation…
Let’s start by the latter: although the online checkin process was rather fast and smooth online , I was surprised by the fact that I wasn’t able to add the boarding pass to my iPhone wallet. Perhaps I could not find the right option to do so during the check in process or is this option is only available through the Qatar Airways app checkin…?
What I did receive is both an email and an SMS with a link that opened the boarding pass with a QR (no pun intended) code, but did not manage to add to the wallet and I was not sure whether that format would be acceptable at the airport.
Upon arriving at LHR, there was a long queue to check in. I asked the first member of staff that I came across ,which may have been from one of the handling companies, whether there was a way to get the boarding pass in a self-checkin machine or whether the email with the QR code was enough, since I was travelling with hand luggage only. He told me I should queue to get the paper boarding pass. Not fully convinced by the explanation I went to a nearby counter, this one staffed by people in Qatar Airways uniform, and asked again.
Credit where it is due, the lady at the counter was very attentive and efficient, immediately issued me a paper ticket and also offered to change the middle seat that had originally allocated to me. Despite the flight being close to full, she managed to find me an aisle seat on the upper floor (another surprise for me, sinceI didn’t know Qatar Airways had an economy class section upstairs in its A380s!).
Boarding was also pretty smooth despite being a full A380.
Cabin and seat
Flying for the first time on an A380 is, of course, quite an experience. Qatar Airways operates its A380s in a 3-class configuration (first, business economy). We will focus on economy class here (although if you read to the end you will see some glimpses of the other cabins, which I managed to check too).
The Qatar Airways A380s can carry 517 passengers, of which 461 in economy (there are also 48 business and 8 first class seats). The economy class cabin, which as we shall soon see, is split between the lower and upper floors, has two configuration 3-4-3 in the main lower economy class cabin (seating 405) and 2-4-2 upstairs (56 seats).
The whole cabin is decorated in purple and grey hues, in line with the airline’s branding.
This is the economy class seat in the first row (lower floor), unfortunately not mine this time, although the one I got was not bad either!
Going upstairs…although still in economy class!
I quite liked the upper floor economy class section, which is accessed through a staircase at the back of the airplane. It is a rather small section of the aircraft, at the back of the cabin. It has a secluded, somehow exclusive vibe, even it is still a regular economy class cabin. It possibly helps, as well, that its 2-4-2 configuration makes it less dense.
This, in the foreground, is my seat in the upper floor of the A380. Luckily I had no one in the seat next to me, which added to the premium feel of this section of the cabin. that must have been petty much the only empty seat in an, otherwise, full flight.
The Recaro CL3710 seats had a rather generous pitch ( 32”). They also recline and have the “ears”, a signature feature of Recaro’s latest economy class seats, for additional comfort.
A few more observations: the toilets were quite clean at all times. They had this curious, solid-looking, wood-panelled napkin dispenser.
The stairs communicating the lower and upper floor usually remains blocked during the flight, although the crew unlocks it if you ask nicely!
Here are another couple of shots showing the atmosphere upstairs a few hours into the flight and how the lower deck looks like from the staircase.
Oh! and did I mention they’ve made also a safety video featuring some of the football players Qatar Airways has some sort of sponsorship with?
Food & Drink
Now, the food and drink…
This was a 9am departure, which means we got to fly during most of the daylight hours. You may think at that hour breakfast would be served, but actually shortly after take off we already had the flight’s main meal, which you see below.
Three items: chicken with rice as main (there was also a vegetarian option), then a sort of potato salad and the dessert, plus drinks.
I would say this lunch was kind of ok, but not amazingly great (in fact I liked better the hummus selection that they serve on shorter flights, but this is a story for another review that I hope to write shortly!).
The dessert was truly outstanding, though (I post a picture below to highlight it!). I mentioned it to cabin attendant when she asked me how had I liked the food…and she immediately offered me another one!
Staff were also quite generous with drinks, giving multiple servings to anyone that may ask. There is a choice of soft drinks, wines (including sparkling) and liquors.
After the main meal, the rest of the journey was punctuated by crew handing out some other snacks plus at least two more rounds of coffee+drinks (the coffee was quite good, btw, so had two servings!).
This sandwich-type snack was actually quite good, with a filling reminiscent of a falafel
The rest of the journey was punctuated by crew handing out some other snacks plus at least two more rounds of coffee and drinks.
Inflight Entertainment & Amenities
The inflight entertainment system (IFE) is at the core of the Qatar Airways experience. The A380 economy class seats are fitted with a seatback screen that can be operated through touch or through the console (that you can see right below the screen). I think I used only the touch screen since it is quite fast and intuitive to use.
The film selection was pretty good and it is quite diverse, not just Hollywood and European films, but also plenty from other regions of the world (reflecting Qatar Airways’ global reach).
There is also the option of syncing your mobile device with the plane’s system, so that you can either watch it there or, finish watching after the flight. Or at least this is my understanding, because I didn’t try it myself.
I particularly liked the maps, which offer multiple visualization options. There are also the famous A380 cameras, which allow you to have a peek outside, even if you do not have a window seat.
Also, not very visible in the pictures but there is also a USB charger in the lower left side part of the screen.
I had heard that there was a limited free wifi allowance, even for economy class passengers, so I tried to connect.
My phone detected the OnAir network, but it didn’t manage to hook up firmly to it. I pressed the redirect button, but also to no avail.
Is it possible that the wifi was not switched on? Or it was maybe an issue with my phone?
In any case, I had plenty to keep me entertained during the flight and actually no need to remain connected for the duration, so I didn’t press too hard with this matter.
I must say that in later flights, on the A350, I managed to connect to the OryxOne network (although I didn’t use it either). When wifi is available there is the “Super wifi” option for fast connectivity, but there is a charge, for economy class passengers at least.
Btw, in case you were wondering: I did not see any inflight magazine in all the flights I took with Qatar Airways during this journey.
The typical long-haul set: pillow, earplugs, blanket and sanitary pack.
The earphones were nothing to write home about, I must say
The sanitary pack contains a mask, gloves and several one-use hydroholic gel sackets.
Bonus: a glimpse of the First Class cabin
At some point during the flight I casually mentioned to the flight attendant that this was my first flight on the A380. Well…about half an hour later, the cabin crew supervisor came to me and said “my colleague told me this is your first A380 flight, would you like to see the rest of the upper floor and the first class cabin after we land?” So this is why this economy class flight report has also an addendum with some glimpses of the renowned Qatar Airways first class cabin.
Remarkably, all this happened without me mentioning until after the time of the tour that I write about airlines and aviation! So nice proactivity by the crew here! Another plus to add to the great service provided during the flight (including rather generous servings!). So, thank you very much to crew member Shirin and her supervisor!
It is ultimately people who make a 6-star airline!
Here is the famous inflight bar (left). For more about this amenity that some airlines fitted their A380s with, you can read this article I wrote for The Points Guy. On the right hand side is the first class toilet
A peek at the often seclusive first class section.
Qatar Airways has fitted 8 first class seats on its A380s. A detailed description of the amenities available to these high-paying passengers is beyond the scope of this piece (this is after all a review of economy class!) but here you can have a look at what it looks like! Another day, maybe…!
That’s what usually greats you after a great flight on Qatar Airways
Our take:
Great economy class product, particularly if you manage to get one of the seats in the upper floor.
Things to improve:
Adding boarding pass to the wallet and self-checkin facilities at LHR.
Headphones could be better
Food: main course could be better, but maybe I am being. a bit too picky here, since it was overall correct. Also I liked the fact that the way the food was arranged on the tray, very neat and not too many “moving parts” or items that you end up not eating or using (such as sides, butter, etc, which can be complicated to manage in the very confined space available).
These minor things are more than compensated by the very attentive service provided by the crew, the nice aircraft and, overall, a great experience.