Flight: Doha (DOH) to Dubai (DXB)

Airline: Qatar Airways

Flight Number: QR1018

Plane: Boeing 787-9

Cabin: Business Class/First Class

Seat: 6K

This Flight

This is a fairly quick review of a very short (but excellent) flight from Doha to Dubai, which was a positioning flight for me.

Qatar Airways seem to offer two daily flights from Doha to Dubai – at 00:55 (QR1002) and 18:35 (QR1018). Interestingly I did spot a QR1014 which also leaves at 18:35 – but unsure if this is/was a one-off. I have to say I am slightly surprised how little flights are available from Doha to Dubai in terms of time – but I also know Qatar Airways regularly review their scheduling.

Flight time from Doha to Dubai was just under an hour.

This flight is considered to be First Class, which I guess to be because the flight is considered ‘domestic’ or ‘short haul’ – but the seat offered was Business Class.

Checking In

I had already arrived from an in-bound flight from London, so I literally walked from the gate and straight to my new gate for this flight. My connection was on the tight side, so I didn’t visit a lounge – in fact I walked straight on to this flight!

The Lounge

Hamad International Airport offers some excellent lounges, which I’ve reviewed on separate visits. You can find all the lounges I’ve reviewed here.

Technically because this was a First Class ticket I could have visited any of the lounges in Hamad International, including Al Safwa – but sadly time didn’t allow on this occasion!

The Plane

I believe originally this was a flight due to be operated on the Airbus A350 – however it seems there had been an equipment change to the Boeing 787-9.

As I write this, Qatar Airways have 41 of the Boeing 787 family: 30 x of the -8 variety and 11 x of the -9 variety.

The layout of the 787-9 is 30 x Business Class and 281 x Economy Class – making a total of 311 seats.

There is no Premium Economy or First Class on this plane.

The Seat

As I mentioned above, although this is deemed as a First Class flight, it was actually a Business Class seat.

Business Class on the 787 is different to the Qsuite offered on the 777 – although very similar. You can find my review of the seat in detail here.

Food and Drink

As I mentioned above, this flight was less than an hour, and therefore it was pretty hard and fast in terms of food service. I was highly impressed by the service offered!

Drinks

Pre-departure drinks of water or champagne were offered, along with a menu.

There was still a good range of drinks on offer. This included cocktails, beers, spirits, wines, etc.

Food

Many other airlines on a flight this short would struggle to offer cookies or a breakfast bar. But not Qatar Airways!

The menu was by no means expansive, but a platter of sliders, halloumi sticks and brownie was on offer – and it was very good!

In fact, I believe other airlines should take note – as this was a great little snack for a short flight, and great quality!

Amenities Kit

No Amenities Kit was offered per se, but Travel in Confidence kits were offered just after boarding.

The kits included:

• Face mask
• Hand gel
• Gloves
• Wipes

Wifi

On this flight I did not find Wifi available, however I didn’t need it for an hour.

Entertainment

Because these aircraft are otherwise used for long-haul flights, a top-of-the-range entertainment system was on offer – with the usual extensive Qatar Airways offering of films, TV, music and games…….so plenty to do in an hour!

Unlike many other airlines who operate the 787, Qatar Airlines do connect the aircrafts cameras to the entertainment IFE. Result!

Another feature I liked on the IFE was the moving map – I’d previously said I didn’t like the IFE in QSuite/777 – but this was perfect!

A final point to make on the IFE is that headphones were not at the seats – however were offered by Cabin Crew on demand. This seems a sensible approach given the vert short length of the flight – I was happy looking out of the window and at the screen!

Cabin Crew

My view of the Qatar Airways needs no introduction – they are consistently excellent.

This was a tough flight – the Cabin Crew had to run out 30 meals and do a drinks service in less than an hour. Naturally, they did so with a sense of humour and friendliness – but I could tell the pressure was on for this flight!

Despite the pressure being on, the Cabin crew still managed to offer refills on drinks after the meal service. Some great teamwork.

I should add that by comparison, I took a United Airlines flight recently about this length – and the Cabin Crew announced that due to the “short flight” they wouldn’t even be offering drinks in First Class!

Landing in Dubai

As always, landing in Dubai was smooth and easy – although the train to the main terminal had a big queue. Seemingly this was because flights from London, Paris, Amsterdam and India had all landed at the same time!

Conclusion

This was an excellent flight!

Despite it being very short, and the Cabin Crew under pressure – all of the usual details one might expect with Qatar Airways were perfectly handled.

I’d also be very happy to sit in the non-QSuite Business Class for much longer than an hour! In fact I’ve already a positioning flight booked to do so!

So all very good indeed, and as always my next Qatar Airways experience can’t come soon enough!