In December 2021 we learned that Qatar Airways will be leasing some Boeing 777s from Cathay Pacific (something first spotted by @AirlineFlyer). These planes have already been flying for Qatar Airways, but so far have been operating cargo flights. It looks like that might be changing soon.
Continue reading: Qatar Airways Leasing Cathay Pacific 777s With First Class!
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Were you not recently thinking about a trip to Male to check out one of the Marriotts before the Bombvoy devaluation? This would be a stellar opportunity to knock out two at once...
Please?
@ SQ51 -- Your wish is my command. I already have a QR F segment between DOH and MLE on hold. 😉
And we all know this route will never see an A380... will be waiting with popcorn
Why won’t it let you book a FC award ticket from LHR or CDG using the A380 too?
You also can fly Cathay 77W first class on Russian charter Nordwind and Azur Air lol
Possibly Dumb Question - Is Qatar the only airline with the A350 fuselage issue? If so, that just seems odd, unless it has to do with the extreme heat at their home base.
It’s not really a fuselage issue but rather the paint job is sub standard and is flaking away.
I'm pretty sure Finnair has also had the same problems, and might have even been the first to report it several years ago. I think there are several other operators who have had the issue but have made less of a public stink about it. Qatar is banging the drum the hardest, for whatever reason. I'm sure there are other people who can confirm.
Do you happen to know what the earliest date Qatar is using Cathay's planes for flights to MLE? I have a business award on QR from MLE to DOH on Feb 5, 2022 and ExpertFlyer still shows QR's old business class on the 77W. I flew Cathay's first almost ten years ago and would love another chance to use that seat.
What flight numbers have the flights between DOH -MLE? I have searched a bit for February and found none with the FC seatmap on ExpertFlyer. Is there a better place to find them (tried on QR website also, that was difficult)
Well, I am looking at the exact same date/route now. And it's showing A350-900 again.
"In business class it’s a different story. Qatar Airways’ 777 business class is phenomenal, as the airline is known for its Qsuites."
Yeah but do all of their 777-300's have Q-Suites? Or does Qatar usually fly Qsuites exclusively between those 2 destinations?
Did Cathay finish retrofitting all of their 777s with 10-abreast economy seating? If not, for economy travelers, if they use a Cathay 777 with 9-abreast seating, it should be an improvement over Qatar’s 777s, which are all 10-abreast.
I believe there are some Qatar 777s that haven’t been renovated with Q-Suites. They have their older business class seats, which are pretty basic reverse herringbones. There might even be some early delivery A350-900s that still have those seats.
"Cathay Pacific’s 777 first class is excellent, with fully flat beds featuring direct aisle access."
Sorry Lucky, but that's like saying "this steak is excellent, it has protein." Direct aisle access on all seats is standard on pretty much all international first class. I think what makes it excellent is the 1-1-1 configuration's spaciousness,
What flights numbers are using this plane? I have tried to find it but can't seem to find these flights. Have they added March onto the schedule with these?
JFK-DOH 0702 Jan 24 seat map on Seat Alerts app is a Cathay 777-300ER 4 class. Repositioning flight! Disappointing.
Seems to be QR 673/674. We’re booked in late October and I can confirm this has changed to a Cathy 777-300ER from the original 777-200LR.
I personally am not too bummed as Cathay has some great seats. Agreeably not QSuites but I’ll take it over most other airlines any day.
Something I noticed (and something for anyone on these routes to be aware of). Even though the equipment change was only DOH > MLE, our selected seats had been cleared out for the entire trip both ways. Thanks to @Lucky, I was able to snag window seats in the forward J Mini Cabin on Cathay’s 77W.
Thanks as always Lucky!
Kind of a bummer but at least my friends and I are 50% of the mini cabin on MLE>DOH.
Hong Kong and Male makes sense.
Male because it's a leisure destination, so most people flying QR won't mind the aircraft swap as long as their getting a good product. Hong Kong makes sense because no one flies to HKG now because of border closures, and those who do won't mind this swap too much since they are likely used to flying CX (and probably won't despise the swap). This was the way to deploy the plane while making the least amount of passengers disappointed. Everywhere else, pax would expect QR style and service (and in turn, the product they paid for).
QR did the same with their leased LATAM A350's by flying them to/from Spain.
I had snagged 2 F redemptions on JFK-DOH which this aircraft was scheduled for one day only in January but then it got reverted to the normal config. Didn't get any warning/call or compensation. I refunded my miles.
The article specifically mentions March 1 these flights start, so you’re not going to find them in Feb.
Are the 777 CX premium economy seats on these leased aircraft sold as QR economy preferred seats which can be paid for, or, are included in QR's Comfort class?
I was able to redeem BA Avios on the Doha to Male flight in First using 51,500 points on Monday, March 21, 2022 which is currently the CX 777 300 ER leased. Thank you for the information.
These flights actually started February 20th, hopefully we’ll see some reports flowing in.
Just flew this aircraft on QR677 from MLE-DOH on Saturday, February 26, 2022, in business class (1-2-1). Originally, when I purchased this ticket, it was Qsuite on 772. The Cathay-leased 773 was repainted white with Qatar livery and interior (seats, etc.) were with Qatar colors. The seats were a bit dated and far inferior compared to Qsuite. My seat 21A had a misaligned window and the television was defective. Took a peak at the first class (1-1-1), and it was the only part of the plane that seemed maybe better than Qsuite (massive seats). For a 4-5 hour flight it was just fine, not exceptional.
im booked on 677 MLE-DOH, originally in Q suite for august 23, now on this aircraft. Kinda bummed about it but I'm sure it will still be a solid product (hopefully).
As an update, it appears they are using one of these aircraft out of ZRH to DOH. It's showing F is available using AAdvantage miles in late May on a 777.
I just flew first class DOHA to Male, April 12 on the 1.30am flight and got this new Cathay product. My friend flew same day but on the earlier 12.55am flight - Both were the leased Cathay plane and both tickets on award points, a whopping 100,000 one way. It was AMAZING. Over the top service, F&B, 2004 Krug, caviar, the works. The seat was gigantic and so comfy. Interior pretty bland but still very nice. It was dreamy!
Like many burning down their loyalty points, my wife and I booked a trip to Al Maha resort (points), the JW Marriott Maldives (cash - to snag the inclusive option), and Qatar Q suites on an AA award (180k each) for all segments from DFW.
We were surprised at how often out aircraft* and flight times changed (we booked way in advance) and it looks like we are on a CX 777 in "First" from SHJ-DOH-MLE, returning on another CX 773 in business MLE-DOH-DFW.
Is there an efficient way to rebook the MLE-DOH-DFW itinerary to:
(1) not lose our DOH-DFW Q Suite and
(2) part with the extra 10k AA miles to snag the CX first seats MLE-DOH + lounge access?
Superficially, (given $165pp lounge access option and marginal utility of the F seats for the 4.5hr flight MLE-DOH), this isn't a slam dunk use of the 10k - but we do have a 7hr layover in DOH, so "guaranteeing" a sleeping room by booking F in advance might be an incentive (vs rolling the dice and paying for the F lounge upon arrival in J).
Would this just be a phone call? I think all the DOH-DFW Q suite award space is gone, so I don't really have the option to hold a new itinerary and call in the cancellation/change.
Appreciate this article. I am flying from DOH to MLE next week, originally booked on a 777 with QSuites and notified recently that QA will now be utilizing a non-QSuite config (boo!). The seating chart on the QA website shows a 1-2-1 config but seatguru or other seat sites only show QSuite or 2-2-2 configs for QA 777. Could not find anything on the web that spoke to this change. Good to know, bummed I'm losing QSuite but glad it's not a 2-2-2.
QA is not displaying the CX plane configuration on their website, and Seatguru has it underway CX because QA doesn't own them. On Seatguru, that configuration you mentioned is under> Airlines >Cathay Pacific >Planes & Seat Maps >Boeing 777-300ER (77H) Layout 1. I have a trip to the Maldives next month on currently, my leg to MLE to/from DOH is under that configuration. Flights 675 and 676. What did you think about your experience with that configuration?
Flying in September on a CX plane from IST to DOH in business. Does anyone know if this is Cathay or Qatar crew? And is the catering Cathay or Qatar?
So I had an AAdvantage award from CHS-DFW-DOH-MLE in J with the longhaul on QR. I called months ago when QR started leasing these planes to upgrade our DOH-MLE segment to F. AA issued separate tickets, CHS-DFW-DOH in J and then DOH-MLE in F. We got to DFW just fine and hung out in the great Flagship lounge before heading down to our gate. They had us go to the counter to reissue our tickets on QR stock. However they wouldn't do it since we had separate tickets issued, no other explanation and told us it was an AA issue. Ran back to the lounge to get there help. 2.5 hours later we missed our flight and they had to rebook us for tomorrow. Just beware that you'll need one PNR on AA in order to get QR to issue the tickets. Spending the night at the Grand Hyatt DFW now on our own dime... Hopefully we'll get to the St Regis Maldives soon.
Last week (jan 2023) Qatar airways
Business class on a leased 777 300 ER.
Old seats, plastic bag with toielett things, hard seats, realy realy hard drop in quality for Qatar airways, it’s like traveling in Economy but paying for business class.
So pay attention we choose another company next travel, not paying for this it’s a shame of Qatar airways to take same price for this downgrade.
/Irich
We flew with the ER 777 from Doh -Mle in business 21 Jan 2023. I was so disappointed. This is not what we are used to when we fly with Qatar Airways. The cabin was narrow, the seats uncomfortable and the interior was so old fashion. The toiletries was in plastic bag. What happened to the Qatar standard!
The only thing on that flight that was good was the staff, they gave us excellent service.
So don’t fly with Qatar with this Aircraft it is definitely not worth the money.
Next time we choose another company!
Hello Anblo! I have trip to MLE coming up with DOH. Was your plane an ex-CX plane, 777-300ER with reverse herringbone seats? Or was it an old QR 777 with the 2-2-2 layout?
Book QR816 Doha to Hong Kong for October 2023 and the Cathay 777 4-class seating plan came up on seat selection. Top tier frequent flyers can choose a seat in Premium Economy (which QR refers to as Comfort+) for free.
I'll be going to MLE in January and booked the premium eco seats. I wonder if they really plan to fly the cathay triple 7s until January 24?!
You and me both. I snagged the premium eco seats for myself and my family in December to MLE. Here's hoping the lease continues!