Flight test: Qatar Airways economy class
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Leisa Tyler checks out economy class on Qatar Airways to see if it lives up to its claims of five star service.
Aircraft Qatar Airways, Boeing 777.
Route Bangkok to Doha.
Class Economy.
Seat 31C.
Seat pitch and width 32 inch pitch with 18.17 inch width in economy (78 pitch with 21.8 width in business).
Seat configuration 3-3-3 for a total of 257 economy seats.
Check-in 33 minutes to be exact - long queues and only four counters operating.
Luggage allowance 20 kilograms.
Scheduled flight time Seven hours.
On-time performance Qatar Airways brought the scheduled departure time forward by 20 minutes - causing much confusion among passengers checking in for the 8am flight - then left 30 minutes late. The flight took six hours, 35 minutes.
Lounge access Business class and Qatar Airways platinum, gold and silver Privilege Club members can use any one of the four Thai Airways lounges at Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Aircraft condition Spick and span; the modern interiors of the six-month-old aircraft have stylish maroon and blue trimmings that match staff uniforms.
Comfort As good as it can get in economy. Seats have moulded headrests and adjustable personal entertainment screens. The most incredibly smooth landing and take-off. Things weren't so suave at Doha Airport - squashed on to an old bus, we taxied for 18 minutes before reaching the terminal. Business and first class score limousine transfers and access to the sleek Premium Lounge.
Service While friendly and multicultural - with staff from the Philippines, Thailand, Ethiopia and Bulgaria - service is not quite the "five stars" Qatar Airways professes. After spilling his red wine, my neighbour waited more than 15 minutes for staff to respond, several of whom were sharing a joke at the back of the plane.
Food and beverages Below average - a sad-looking breakfast of omelet, choice of a shrivelled-up old croissant or sugary white bread and undrinkable coffee, with a soggy sandwich for lunch.
Entertainment Vast and quite possibly the best in the skies: 178 movies, 263 television programs, music, games, an entire channel devoted to children, all in eight languages and presented on a nifty touch screen.
Flight frequency Twice daily between Bangkok and Doha.
Photos On board Qatar Airways
Online qatarairways.com.
Tested by Leisa Tyler, who flew courtesy of Qatar Airways.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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To Jamie #4
Singapore Air is a good benchmark for a five-star airline, and Singapore Changi is regarded as a five-star airport (refer to www.airlinequality.com for more information). Emirates is somewhere between 3* and 4*, Air New Zealand is regarded as 4*.
At the other end of the line, a good budget carrier (Easyjet) will get 3*. Ryanair manages 2*.
One of the Best Airlines for me is Sri Lankan Airlines.. The Service is Incredible and the CREW is so friendly and helpful.They all work with a smile.
This isn't where I parked my car!
It's a shame that they have a horrible maintenance record then and I would feel unsafe sending any family member to fly with them. It's so funny when jounalists talk about flying, which they obviously have no clue about, and mention how "incredibly smooth the take-off and landing was" as if this implies that the pilot is fantastic. lets remember, a smooth landing is not always a good one and qatar pilots are the rejects of Emirates and Ethiad.
i'm just curious... what country then would make you rate the service "5-stars"?
I flew Dubai/Doha/Athens economy return with Qatar a few months ago. It was a thoroughly disappointing experience. The checkin was third world (huge slow queues, and dreadfully old looking checkin counters), the food was terrible, and the airplane was elderly, with no individual inflight entertainment and faulty airconditioning. There was nothing even remotely "five star" about the experience. The only redeeming feature was the HOT flight atttendant guy they use in the preflight safety video. Qatar Airways neeeds a reality check: never over-sell and then under-deliver.
I will only fly Singapore Airlines overseas. The service is exceptional, the food is filling and tasty (the Kung Pao chicken is awesome) and the entertainment is varied. It was even better on the A380 to London.
Had a pretty horrid experience with these guys, wouldn't let me board in HK without presenting the credit card I'd paid for the flight with. Only issue was I'd lost it months ago and had a new replacement. They literally didn't care. 12 hours later, ASB helped me clear it up and I was able to fly.
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You can only be glad it was Qatar (not the other 5 letter airline starting with Q and residing across the ditch). They fly the oldest hulks up to Jakarta from Sydney- and thats only the crew I am talking about- you should see the planes. On a more serious note, I prefer Emirates or Etihad if flying through to the Middle East. Done a Qatar flight once- only Jakarta to Singapore. Business class was about the same I would have paid premium economy on SIA. It was pretty good- but was only a 1 hour 20 minute short haul