Qatar Airways, Business Class – Boeing B 787-8: Doha to Singapore

I just arrived in Doha on the Qatar Airways flight from Zürich. I have roughly two hours before my next flight to Singapore.

Al-Mourjan Qatar Airways Lounge

Location: The lounge is located on the third floor. Transfer security is one floor below. To access the lounge from security you need to take the lift. Otherwise you will have to take the escalators down to the first floor before taking another escalator up to the third floor.
Catering: There is an à la carte dining and buffet restaurant on the fourth floor, which is accessible via a grand staircase. In addition, there is a bistro style restaurant on the lounge’s main floor, serving things like salads and sandwiches. There are also numerous self-service bars in the lounge.
Internet: Free wifi is available throughout the terminal. No password required.

This lounge is really something else, it is huge and very elegantly appointed. I try taking a few pictures but it really is quite impossible to capture the sheer size of the place.

The toilets are very well kept and very clean. As I approach the sink to wash my hands, one of the four attendants puts on the water for me, squirts some liquid soap in my hands and eventually hands me a small towel to dry my hands.

Boarding

Business Class passengers are invited to board first, before a general boarding call is made.

The Cabin

The flight to Singapore is operated by a Boeing B 787-8. For information about the cabin, see the previous post of my trip from Zürich to Doha.

The Crew

There are three cabin crew working the Business Class cabin, which is full on this flight. The purser is a young man from Singapore. The other two crew members are a young woman, also from Singapore, and another from India. I must say I am really quite impressed by the consistency of the staff and their level of professionalism. For example when I am brought my welcome drink, the flight attendant places a small napkin on the table and then turns it to make sure that the onyx logo printed on it is not upside down. Later on when she comes to dress the table for the meal, she places the cutlery and then straightens it to look nice. Of course these are only minor details and they will not make the food or the flight any better. Even so, it such small details that make the difference which justifies Qatar Airways’ five star rating in my view.

After departure the purser comes by to introduce himself and check if everything is okay. It is a nice touch that he shakes my hand as he introduces himself, I think.

As this is a night flight, Qatar Airways provides pyjamas. Just beware that the cut is fairly generous. I was give an L and the trousers were way too big.

The Meal

Welcome drink on the ground: Lemon and mint juice.
Hot towel before the meal: Hot towel with a subtle scent of roses.
Pre-meal drink: Water and another lemon and mint juice.
Choice: There are two choices for the starter, three choices for the main – including one vegetarian option – and three choices for dessert.
Type of meal: Dinner.

Amuse Bouche

Tempura nori wrapped black cod with Asian vegetables and sweet chilli sauce.

The First Course

Lime infused prawns with coriander chilli crème fraîche, cucumber, black sesame and frisée lettuce.

The Main Course

Marinated chicken breast with a lemon and garlic sauce, mashed potato with parmesa, roasted carrots and beets, steamed asparagus.

Dessert

Ladurée Vendôme of dark chocolate biscuit, blackberry confit, chocolate and blackberry tea mousse.

Once again, the quantity and the quality of the food is quite impressive. In particular, the presentation is very professional and makes an interesting change from the usual Business Class meals, which are served with every item side by side in the dish.

Once the meal is over I go change into my pjs. In the meantime, one of the cabin crew makes up my bed, which incidentally includes a thing mattress.

The Second Service

Hot towel the meal: Rose scented hot towel.
Pre-meal drink: Cucumber and apple juice, orange juice.
Choice: There are two options for the hot meal.
Type of meal: Breakfast.

1. Orange compte with Greek yoghurt and toasted granola
2. Pepper and feta cheese frittata with sautéed potatoes and red onion, roasted plum tomato, Portobello mushrooms and chicken sausage.

The second meal hits the spot nicely and is well timed. The second service starts about 90 minutes out of Singapore, which leaves you enough time after the meal to change and complete the immigration form.

Arrival

Qatar Airways operates out of Terminal 3 at Changi airport. The place is not overly busy. There is only a short queue for passport control and by the time I am through, my suitcase is already expecting my on the luggage belt.

Conclusion

Originally, this flight should have been operated by an A 350, which obviously would have been very cool. Better luck next time. As for Qatar Airways, I think they have a very solid product that is very elegant and comfortable. Of course the over all journey time from Zürich to Singapore was slightly longer than if I had taken the Singapore Airlines nonstop service from Zürich, which leaves slightly after the Qatar Airways flight. But in all honesty, I hardly think the time gain of roughly three hours can justify what Singapore Airlines or SWISS charge for the journey, especially seeing as the SWISS product at least is certainly no match for Qatar Airways.