I’ve already written a bit about this flight on the days following the inaugural, as follows:
- Qatar Airways A350 Business Class Inaugural Flight
- Flying With His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways’ CEO
So in this trip report I’ll focus mostly on the things I didn’t write about in great detail at the time.
Qatar 67
Doha (DOH) – Frankfurt (FRA)
Thursday, January 15
Depart: 7:40AM
Arrive: 12:30PM
Duration: 6hr50min
Aircraft: Airbus A350
Seat: 4A (Business Class)
I managed to be the first aboard the Qatar Airways A350, and quickly snagged a few pictures of the cabin.
Qatar Airways’ A350 business class features a total of 36 seats. Each seat features direct aisle access, so the configuration is 1-2-1. The forward cabin consists of six rows, then there’s the entrance by the second set of doors, and behind that is another three rows of seating.
Qatar Airways A350 business class cabin
Qatar Airways A350 business class cabin
Qatar Airways A350 business class cabin
Qatar Airways A350 business class cabin
The hard product on the A350 was almost identical to the business class product that Qatar Airways has on the 787 and A380. They’re reverse herringbone seats, though they’re different than the ones found on American and Cathay Pacific, for example. It’s a modified version of the product, which has both its pros and cons.
I like the seat a little bit more in theory, I think, though the one downside is that there’s not nearly as much privacy. The Cathay Pacific seat has a “widget” of sorts at the side of the seat which adds more privacy, while in Qatar Airways’ version of the seat your head is fully exposed.
Qatar Airways A350 business class, seat 4A
I was assigned seat 4A, which was about halfway back in the forward cabin on the left side of the aircraft.
Qatar Airways A350 business class, seat 4A
What makes the seat a bit different than some of the other reverse herringbone seats out there is that the entertainment screen doesn’t “fold away,” and the tray table simply slides out from underneath the personal television.
Qatar Airways A350 business class, seat 4A
The magazine rack was located to the left of the seat, along with a reading light. An amenity kit was also already waiting at my seat.
Qatar Airways A350 business class magazine storage, seat 4A
Qatar Airways A350 business class, seat 4E
It’s worth noting that the bulkhead had the same cutouts for your feet as any other seat, except it sort of oddly faced the galley (the CEO of Airbus sat in 1E, while the CEO of Qatar Airways sat in 1A).
Qatar Airways A350 business class, seats 1E & 1F
Waiting at each seat was a comfortable pillow and blanket.
Qatar Airways A350 business class pillow & blanket
This was in addition to the additional blanket and mattress pad which were waiting on the ottoman. It’s not often you see a mattress pad in business class on a roughly six hour daytime flight.
Qatar Airways A350 business class footrest
The seat’s entertainment controller was simple to use as well.
Qatar Airways A350 business class remote controller
Once settled in, one of the friendly cabin crew came by to offer me a pre-departure beverage. I ordered champagne. The glass of Billecart-Salmon was poured at my seat, and I was given a hot towel to accompany it. I figured it made for a good photo op with my inaugural flight certificate. Menus were distributed shortly thereafter.
Qatar Airways business class pre-departure champagne & hot towel
I was also offered pajamas. Pajamas on a six hour daytime flight in business class? Wow, impressive!
Qatar Airways business class pajamas & amenity kit
The amenities for this flight really couldn’t be beat. Between the Armani amenity kit (with surprisingly large amounts of goodies), the pajamas, and the A350 branded eyeshades, I felt like I was in first class.
Qatar Airways business class pajamas & amenity kit
Further into the boarding process I was offered Arabic coffee and a date. On one hand I think it’s kind of cheap looking that they serve packaged dates, on the other hand as a germaphobe I prefer it, since otherwise everyone is grabbing is putting their hands in a basket full of unwrapped dates.
Qatar Airways business class Arabic coffee & date
The boarding process was a total cluster, though that’s hardly surprising. The crew was doing everything as well as they could, though obviously the cabin was still new to them. Beyond that, they couldn’t have had more insane working conditions, given how many people were trying to take pictures, walk around, etc. Add in the nervousness of having the notorious CEO aboard, and I’m sure they were shaking on the inside.
At around 7:40AM the door closed with a completely full business class cabin. Of the 36 passengers, I’d say maybe a third were His Excellency’s entourage, while maybe half were aviation enthusiasts, and then there were a few passengers that “accidentally” booked the inaugural flight.
At this point Diana, the cabin service manager, made her welcome aboard announcement. Shortly thereafter the captain welcomed everyone aboard — “on behalf of His Excellency, Mr. Akbar Al Baker, and your crew, it’s my honor and privilege to welcome you onboard this inaugural A350 flight.” He informed us that our flight time was 5hr55min, which he anticipated would put us into Frankfurt a bit early.
The seatbelt sign was switched on, which in and of itself is a pretty cool feature. The seatbelt sign is an electronic display, and even has text that appears at the top of the screen.
Qatar Airways A350 seatbelt sign
At around 7:50AM we began our taxi towards runway 34L. We taxied past a lot of other Qatar Airways aircraft parked at the terminal, including an A380, and then several A330s and 777s.
Qatar Airways A380 Doha Hamad International Airport
Qatar Airways 777 Doha Hamad International Airport
Doha Hamad International Airport
We got to runway 34L at 8:05AM, at which point we were immediately cleared for takeoff. I should note that the A350 tail camera is amazing. It’s the most high def and wide angle tail camera I’ve ever seen. Some A380 tail cameras are pretty “crisp,” though this one provides an exponentially clearer picture.
Qatar Airways A350 tail camera
Qatar Airways A350 tail camera
Once we lined up on the runway we had a smooth and quiet climb out. I don’t think I can properly express how quiet the A350 is. It’s even quieter than the A380, which otherwise already felt like the quietest plane, by far.
Qatar Airways A350 tail camera
Our climb out was gradual and smooth, and we had an awesome view of Doha on the left side of the aircraft.
View of Doha after takeoff
View of Doha after takeoff
View on climb out
The seatbelt sign was turned off about 10 minutes after takeoff, at which point cards were distributed with complimentary Wi-Fi codes. While the aircraft was equipped with OnAir Wi-Fi, it was the worst quality connection I’ve ever experienced. It only worked for a few minutes throughout the entire flight, and even then I could barely upload a picture to Instagram.
Qatar Airways business class Wi-Fi voucher
Qatar Airways business class Wi-Fi voucher
Shortly thereafter breakfast orders were taken, so I placed my order.
I have to say that Qatar Airways’ reverse herringbone seats look especially gorgeous from behind, in part thanks to the lack of “head” privacy. You can see what everyone is watching on their IFE.
Qatar Airways A350 business class cabin
The A350 wing is quite gorgeous and special as well.
Wing view
I quickly checked out the lav. There are two lavatories located between the forward and rear business class cabins. They’re nicely appointed, though not especially spacious.
Qatar Airways A350 business class lavatory
At this point many of us gathered in the “open space,” located between the two business class cabins. It’s not intended to be a bar, really, though they do have a small setup with snacks, flowers, etc., and they’ll gladly bring you drinks there. There’s a pretty cool ceiling “dome” located above this area.
Qatar Airways A350 entryway display
Qatar Airways A350 onboard bar area
Qatar Airways A350 onboard bar area
Qatar Airways A350 onboard bar area
Per our request, they also gladly placed a bottle (or 10) of champagne in the area with an ice bucket.
I really couldn’t have asked for a more fun crowd to fly with. There were so many aviation geeks aboard. Some I knew from past inaugural flights, while others I knew from online but had never met. It was simply an awesome crowd.
Qatar Airways A350 onboard bar area
Rather than having breakfast right away, a handful of us instead started with a liquid breakfast.
Qatar Airways A350 onboard bar area
Meanwhile my favorite TV travel guy, Richard Quest, was conducting interviews on the flight, including with the CEOs of Qatar Airways and Airbus.
Qatar Airways A350 onboard interviews
After indulging in a drink (or seven), I headed back to my seat for breakfast.
The a la carte menu read as follows:
And the beverage/wine list read as follows:
Service began with the table being set, which included a glass of still water and a pastry basket.
Qatar Airways business class tray setup
Qatar Airways business class bread basket
For the first course I had a fruit plate with honey creme fraiche, which was delicious.
Qatar Airways business class breakfast starter — seasonal fresh fruits with honey creme fraiche
After that I had another starter consisting of cured salmon. Again, it was fantastic. Qatar Airways has among the best catering in the industry, in my opinion.
Qatar Airways business class breakfast starter — cured salmon with dill cream cheese
Qatar Airways business class breakfast starter — cured salmon with dill cream cheese
For the main course I ordered the Arabic breakfast. It was okay, though unmemorable. The main plate seemed a bit odd — I felt like it was missing something.
Qatar Airways business class breakfast main course — Arabic breakfast plate
Qatar Airways business class breakfast main course — Arabic breakfast plate
Qatar Airways business class breakfast main course — Arabic breakfast plate
Qatar Airways business class breakfast main course — Arabic breakfast plate
Meanwhile my friend Kelly, who was seated in front of me, had ordered the frittata.
Qatar Airways business class breakfast main course — chicken sausage with bell pepper and feta cheese frittata
Service throughout the meal was really, really, really slow. And the crew was trying their best and they even consistently apologized for how long everything took, but it was clear they were overworked, overwhelmed, and just didn’t yet have a “rhythm” for the A350. The above three courses literally took over two hours to serve, and even though I ordered a cappuccino with the starter, it was only served after my last course was cleared (despite me following up about it).
Qatar Airways business class cappuccino
The views out the window during breakfast were breathtaking, especially as we were flying over Iran.
View enroute to Frankfurt
View enroute to Frankfurt
View enroute to Frankfurt
The crew also provided turndown service. Between the mattress pad and comfortable pillow and blanket, that’s fairly impressive for a short daytime flight. The CEO insisted that this was a new standard service offering.
Qatar Airways A350 business class bed
We spent much of the rest of the flight talking in the open space between cabins, and eventually one of the crew asked if we wanted to see the crew rest, given that it wasn’t in use. Heck yes!
So we walked back through economy, which didn’t look too bad (I’ve flown it around Toulouse before, and it really isn’t that bad).
Qatar Airways A350 economy class cabin
The crew rest was located at the very back of the cabin, and looked reasonably comfortable, though I do always find crew rests to be quite claustrophobic.
Qatar Airways A350 crew rest
Qatar Airways A350 crew rest
Soon enough we were about 90 minutes out of Frankfurt, just passing over Eastern Europe.
Qatar Airways A350 airshow
Qatar Airways A350 airshow
The service was so slow during the flight that I didn’t bother ordering a pre-arrival meal. Well that and I really wasn’t hungry, given that I just had breakfast a couple of hours prior.
My friend Gino was aboard (also the first passenger of Etihad’s The Residence), and Qatar Airways had baked a cake for him. Like, no joke, they made a cake for him which said “Welcome On Board Our A350 Mr. Gino.” They presented it to him towards the end of the flight. No one else got a cake, but Gino was kind enough to share a slice, and it was tasty!
Qatar Airways business class cake
About 30 minutes out the captain came on the PA to give us updated arrival information, saying we’d be touching down shortly after noon.
View on approach into Frankfurt
At this point I returned to my seat and turned on the tail camera to watch the descent.
Qatar Airways A350 tail camera
While it looked like a nice day in Frankfurt, apparently it was really windy, and you could feel it on the approach.
Qatar Airways A350 tail camera
It was especially evident when we were on approach and you could see our crab angle.
Qatar Airways A350 tail camera
View on final approach into Frankfurt
There were lots of minor adjustments on the final approach, and eventually we had a firm touchdown at Frankfurt Airport.
Qatar Airways A350 tail camera
From there it was roughly a 15 minute taxi to the gate.
Qatar Airways A350 tail camera
Taxiing to gate in Frankfurt
Qatar Airways A350 tail camera
Lufthansa heavies
I don’t think I’ve ever felt as special taxiing in as on this flight. Literally every single ground employee stopped their vehicle or turned around to take pictures of the A350. It was clear that the airport was making a big freaking deal about it, since literally everyone seemed to notice the plane.
Lots of picture taking!
Lots of picture taking!
Qatar Airways A350 tail camera
Kuwait Airways A340
Frankfurt Airport traffic
Thai Airways A380 Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport traffic
Taxiing to gate
Eventually we arrived at our gate, where we had quite the welcome committee greeting us.
Quite a welcome committee
Lufthansa 747 Frankfurt Airport
Qatar Airways A350 tail camera
Once off the plane there was a great angle from which to view the A350.
Qatar Airways A350 Frankfurt Airport
Qatar Airways A350 Frankfurt Airport
Though after a couple of mostly sleepless days I was ready to head to my hotel for some rest.
Qatar Airways A350 business class bottom line
The A350 is a gorgeous plane. Does it have the amenities of the A380? Nope. But it’s quiet and efficient, and from a passenger comfort standpoint, definitely has an edge over the 787 (it’s wider, quieter, and doesn’t have those annoying dimming window shades which don’t actually work).
Qatar Airways business class service is impressive. On the flights which are operated by aircraft with their reverse herringbone product, I’d say it’s one of the most solid business class products out there, between the food, seat, entertainment, etc.
Service on this sector was well intentioned though poorly executed. That being said, I can hardly blame them, given that it was their first A350 “performance,” and we weren’t the easiest crowd to navigate around.
Now if only Qatar Airways would fly the A350, A380, or 787 to the US, rather than the 777 (which doesn’t feature their reverse herringbone business class product).
Overall I was impressed, and had one of the most fun flights of my life, thanks in no small part to my fellow passengers.
I can’t wait for more airlines to take delivery of the A350!
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