DXB, Dubai International, UAE to DOH Doha Hamad International Airport  Qatar: Qatar Airways  QR1025
Scheduled Departure: 09:30  Arrival: 09:40 1hour 10 (In reality, a 40 min flight)
Total distance: 235 miles /383 kilometres/ 207 nautical miles

 

Since I first started flying Qatar Airways five years ago, they have never let me down. Consistently high service with leading edge on everything. I often wonder if on my next trip with them, I will be disappointed. Has not happened yet! Today, a review on my shortest flight ever with them! Was curious to see if they keep their standards up!

Booking: 10/10

With twenty flights a day, Qatar Airways offers an almost hourly shuttle for the short hop between Dubai’s two airports and Doha. Competition is high with Emirates and low cost carrier FlyDubai also providing multiple non-stop flights from both DXB and DWC airports. Emirates even flies its A380 between Dubai and Doha at 745am each morning! It would take longer to load the plane than fly the actual route!

Dubai to Doha pricing starts at $US75 each way for main cabin with $US120 roundtrip. Business fares start at $US340 one way. There are also flights from Abu Dhabi to Doha but I found that they cost way more starting at $200 each way in Main Cabin. I suspect the absence of FlyDubia on that sector is the factor.

Qatar ‘s website is very clean. It is not cluttered and flows very smoothly. My only frustration is that I could not find a way of changing the fare quotes into my currency as the site seems to quote the fare in the price of the departure country. Have XE handy or let me know how I can change this! The airline offers a vast array of payment options including PayPal.

Check-in: 10/10

On line check in was very straight forward through the uncluttered Qatar Airways website. At the airport check in, I arrived early in the morning on a Friday (weekend day in UAE and Qatar)  and found I was the only person in the check in line!

The staff member looking after me was very warm, very professional and vert helpful. she confirmed I had exit row seats.  Check in could have been faster if I had not engaged her in conversation about Ethiopia her home country!

She gave me clear directions to the Qatar lounge.

Lounge: 10/10

On arrival at the Qatar Lounge, the staff, seeing my OneWorld Emerald status, escorted me the few metres to the airport’s First Class lounge and introduced me to the staff there. On many airlines, the staff would just point the way!

This was a beautiful lounge. There were just four of us using the lounge and staff were very attentive! Every time I turned around a staff member was ready to help, direct or carry!

The range and quality of food was amazing with artisan fresh juces, an egg station and a range of Middle Eastern and Western foods.

Being the week before Christmas, the lounge was decorated with massive beautiful gingerbread houses.

The lounge had good wifi , fantastic sparkling clean showers and plenty of power outlets.

Boarding: 10/10

I joined the Priority line and was aboard in what felt like seconds. With a light load, boarding was rapid and very calm. There was a fair bit of swapping of seats when passengers realised how empty the plane was. I don’t fully understand why people don’t choose the seat they want at check in! 

The staff were very warm and professional in their welcome.

On Board: 9/10

Qatar boasts they have the youngest air fleet in the skies. The Airbus 321 I was flying on (A7-ADV)  was nine years old. I like Qatar’s Pink and Grey colour scheme. 

Qatar have three A321 configurations.This one had 180 seats with 12 business class recliner seats arranged in three rows of four: 2/2. Pitch: 45″ and width: 21″. The 168 economy class seats are arranged 3/3. Seat pitch is a nice 31″ inches (in this day and age for a short flight) and width 18″.Being in the exit row 12,  I had great leg room.

One lavatory is located upfront for Business and three down the back for the main cabin. I didn’t bother checking out the bathrooms in the few minutes we had without the seatbelt on!

Safety: 8/10

Qatar’s safety demonstration is very straight forward with a very standard script. There are no fancy gimmicks or quirks:

(Thank you to TreeFree)

Take off

We departed 21 minutes after scheduled time and were airborne two minutes later. We made a slight left turn after takeoff and then tracked straight across the waters of the Persian Gulf.

A refresher towel was handed out soon after take off.

Entertainment: 9/10

Qatar had their full Oryx entertainment system available with individual screens. On such a short sector, I didn’t bother just picking up my book from where I had left off. 

There was no wifi.

Meals: 8/10

The crew came through with a snack box containing one of the airline’s sweet and savoury snacks. I have had this product before. The box contains a chicken and mushroom pie and a cake.

There was a good range of beverages  I accompanied my snack box with orange juice and a cup of tea. Having had a good breakfast in the lounge, I didn’t need the pie, It is very tasty but can be very hot.

While the meals were served very quickly in account of the short flight time, service did not feel rushed (possibly because they had far fewer people aboard than normal). A piece of fruit or a skerrick of fresh vegetable would have made me happier with the meal!

A piece of fruit instead of the cake, would have made me happier with the meal!

Landing

With a solid 90 degree right hand turn we tracked smoothly into Doha Hamad International Airport. We landed five minutes early, despite our late start. Qatar showed the arrival details and connection information for Doha airport. Why cannot every airline do this?

Staff politely farewelled us.

The Verdict

My Flight Rating:  94%  (4.7 out of 5). MY Best Main Cabin flight of 2016.

About the Airline: Qatar Airlines has been operating since 1994. Their large and diverse fleet of 192 aircraft services 151 destinations.

Skytrax: Qatar has a  5 star rating from Skytrax. Skytrax customers rate them at 8/10. Skytrax rated them as the best airline in the world in 2015 and gave them number two in 2016.

My overall rating of  Qatar: 100%. Over the last five years, I have consistently rated them as the best airline in the world coming number 1 out of the 95 airlines I have flown.

Safety Rating: Airline ratings only gives the carrier 5.5 out of a possible score of 7. Jacdec, however, rates  them as the fourth safest airline of 2016.

Frequent Flyer Program: Qatar Airways Privilege Club affiliated with One World.

Positives: Staff warmth, decent legroom, amazing lounge

Negatives: Some fruit would be nice in the snack instead of the cake

Would I fly them again? Yes. Most definitely. I am still trying to arrange a Qatar 380 flight!

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