Qatar Airways Revisited

For the sake of fair blogging I am posting this in relation to Qatar Airways. As per my blog on 11 October 2009 I had a mixed experience when I first flew with the airline in August 2008. I felt disappointed after all the five-star hype that preceded my trip. Behold, the power of marketing! However, I chose to fly Qatar Airways (in Y class) over a couple of other options when flying to the Maldives from London last month.

This may come as a surprise but I have few complaints after this latest experience. However, rather than waffle on aimlessly about everything I shall summarise my key points through bullet points.

Positives:

• All four flights arrived early or on time (probably the most important factor when travelling, after safety of course)


• Excellent crew and in-flight service on all sectors


• IFE not as good as Emirates but better than most competitors


• Legroom on A340-600 excellent (much better than on the airline's A330s and on most competitors' aircraft)
  

Negatives:

• Doha Airport


• The large IFE box under seat in front at the window seat on outbound flight (A330-200 A7-ACF)

• Slow check-in/baggage drop-off at LHR

The positives clearly outweigh the negatives.

However, the one thing that consistently lets down the Qatar Airways product is Doha Airport (DOH). I know this is not the fault of the airline, as it is the only airport serving the nation, but the place is just not a nice experience during the late night/early morning peak. The airport seems to have outgrown itself but that's to be expected for an airport that has grown rapidly from 7.1 million passengers in 2004 to 14.9 million passengers in 2007. The new Doha Airport (due 2011) can not open soon enough.

Skytrax may rate Qatar Airways as five-star but it only rates DOH as three-star - not exactly a match made in heaven. The toilet facilities are a disaster (lots of water on the floor and lack of toilet paper) and the airport is just too crowded. There are no airbridges so passengers are bussed to/from the aircraft. On the MLE-DOH and DOH-LHR legs our aircraft were parked on the far side of the airfield and it was a fair trek to/from the terminal. On the DOH-LHR leg one little girl started shouting "why are we going away from the airport???!!!" repeatedly as the bus made its way around the airport perimeter. To compound matters the bus was packed and then waited outside the aircraft for almost ten minutes before boarding could commence. Not a pleasant experience for most weary travellers but I am used to such experiences after many trips through CDG!

Cathay Pacific has HKG, Singapore Airlines has SIN, Asiana Airlines has ICN and Malaysia Airlines has KUL. Qatar Airways needs something better than DOH. Roll on the new DOH in 2011!

Overall, there is no doubting Qatar Airways is an excellent carrier and October 2009's experience was much better than that of August 2008. However, a true five-star airline must deliver consistently. I look forward to my next Qatari adventure.