Flight Review Qatar Airways Economy Class Part 2: A350-1000
Flight# QR1166
From: Doha (DOH)
To: Riyadh (RUH)
Flight time: 1h
Aircraft: Airbus A350-1000
This flight report is going to be short and not because the airplane or the airline haven’t got much going for them (you can see my recent review of the Qatar Airways A380 experience or my flight review after flying on the A350-1000, on Eithad in that case), but because this was a very short flight!
It is quite amazing that Qatar Airways uses such a large, long-haul aircraft for the roughly 1h-long flight between Doha and Riyadh, but things here, in the Gulf, are often done on a grand scale!
Nevertheless, it was a great opportunity to try out the Qatar Airways experience in the short haul.
Also, a few years ago, and due to unexpected last moment personal matters, I missed the chance to attend the delivery of the first A350-1000, of which Qatar Airways was the launch customer (when it was still in good terms with Airbus!), so it was nice to finally be able to step on this plane!
As per the aircraft, it impossible to write this flight review without mentioning that the A350-1000 precisely at the center of the current dispute between Qatar Airways and Airbus, which has led to a rupture in relations between the two companies.
The conflict started in 2021 when Qatar Airways grounded several aircraft after discovering cracks in the paint. Airbus has acknowledged the issue, but has denied it represents a risk. In any case, the souring in relations means Qatar Airways won’t be taking any other A350 or A321neos for that matter (the latter after Airbus rescinded the order). It is unclear, until the issue is resolved in court, what is going to happen with the remaining A350s Qatar Airways had on order.
The two sides are going to face each other soon at a London court.
Pre-flight experience
My flight was part of a longer itinerary that started at London Heathrow (LHR) and already described the small issues trying to get a mobile boarding pass. Other than this small trifle, all was pretty smooth.
It helps that DOH is a rather nice airport to stop over at and, also, I continue to be amazed at how efficiently Qatar Airways manages the embarkation process of large, full aircraft (same for the A380 in the previous leg of the trip and the first leg of the return trip, which was also on a full A350-1000). It may well be just an anecdotal observation, but still…
The Cabin
Qatar Airways operates its A350-1000 on a two-class configuration, with 46 Business Class (QSuites) and 281 economy class seats. The latter are set in a 3-3-3 configuration with a 31-32” seat pitch and 5” of recline.
This seat has quite a few convenient features that make the most out of the space available:
There is an adjustable seat-back screen, a universal charger for electronic devices and a card reader that allows you to make contact less payments if need to purchase something (like, for example, access to wifi).
Right underneath the screen there is a retractable table, which can be folded so that it takes only half the space, if needed.
You also get a sanitary kit which contains a mask, several sackets of sanitising gel and a pair of gloves.
Food & Drink
When it comes to food and drink, we were served this simple but truly nice “mezze” combination, very conveniently packed. I wish more airlines served this type of food on short haul flights: 1) different flavours that are compartimentalized, so if, as it inevitably happens, there’s some flavour or ingredient you don’t like, it is easy to set aside 2) easy to eat, either with the fork or with the help of this piece of bread they served 3) compact and space-efficient 4) it was also genuinely tasty.
We also had a choice of coffee or tea, juices and soft drinks. A complimentary bottle of water was also provided to every passenger. This being a flight to Saudi Arabia, alcohol was out of the question.
Inflight Entertainment & Wifi
You can only offer (and enjoy) so many amenities when the flight is just one hour long, however, there are a number of advantages to flying on an aircraft that is fitted to operate much longer flights.
The most obvious is, of course, the 11.6” seat-back screen, which gives you access to the whole repository of content available on the Oryx entertainment platform.
The seat-back IFE system can be paired with your own personal electronic handheld device and you can watch or interact with content through it (so you don’t need to touch the screen or even use a specific set of headphones).
The aircraft was also equipped with inflight internet connectivity, although this is not free, except if you are a member of the Privilege Club and for a limited period of time.
Our take:
A nice economy class product, with most of the features of the long-haul experience. If anything, you are left with the feeling that the flight was too short to enjoy them all.
What I wrote after flying economy on Qatar Airways’ A380 still stands for the short haul. It’s a pitty that we are very unlikely to see more A350-1000s come into service with Qatar Airways anytime soon. But that’s an entirely different story…