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Our time in Oman would be starting in Salalah, so I booked the following in business class for 42,500 American AAdvantage miles plus $74.60 in taxes and fees per person:
02/16 IB3252 Madrid to Milan departing departing 11:30AM arriving 1:45PM
02/16 QR128 Milan to Doha departing 3:50PM arriving 11:35PM
02/17 QR1130 Doha to Salalah departing 12:50AM arriving 4:20AM
Before I get into the review, I wanted to point out an interesting thing about the way that Qatar Airways markets the forward cabin on many flights within the Middle East. No other global Gulf carrier does this, so I figured it’s worth highlighting.
Qatar Airways markets the forward cabin on many regional flights as being first class rather than business class, even though these are the same seats that would be marketed as business class on other flights. What are the implications of this?
So most flights within the Middle East are marketed this way. For example, Qatar Airways’ services to Dubai, Jeddah, Muscat, etc., all have first class in place of business class. I suspect that this is a small benefit for locals, who are often subjected to higher fares than connecting passengers.
Interestingly on Salalah flights, the forward cabin is still marketed as business class. This probably comes down to how premium a particular route is, and how much demand there is.
We didn’t have much time on the ground in Doha after our Boeing 787-9 flight from Milan, so let’s get right into the flight review. Our flight was departing at gate B2, with boarding starting at 12:05AM. Qatar Airways has two A320 configurations, both of which I reviewed before — there are A320s with fully flat beds, and then there are A320s with recliner seats. On this flight we ended up getting the old product.
Qatar Airways’ A320 cabin has a total of 12 seats, spread across three rows in a 2-2 configuration.
The meal service on Qatar Airways’ short haul flights is simply amazing. Not only was this flight short, but it as in the middle of the night. As a point of comparison, on American I would’ve been lucky to get a packaged bag of cookies from a brand I’ve never heard of.
A good flight attendant can make or break a flight. I want to give a huge shoutout to Donia, the cabin supervisor from Tunisia, who couldn’t have been lovelier. I’ll take it a step further — she was possibly the best flight attendant I’ve had in years.
Qatar Airways flight attendants are consistently professional and friendly, but sometimes they’re not all that personable. That’s because they work very hard (given how involved Qatar Airways’ service is), and sometimes they might not have much time to stop and engage with passengers.
Donia was one of those people you couldn’t help but just love. Even though this was a short haul flight in the middle of the night, Donia was so graceful, fun, and kind. She genuinely seemed like she loved her job, and she showed interest in each passenger’s trip, and their overall experience with Qatar Airways.
Furthermore, she performed the whole service in such a way that made it look easy, when obviously it’s not. Serving this many passengers full meals, while also engaging with them, isn’t easy. On top of that, there were some complicated passengers in economy (including little kids who tried to run into business class), and she handled that in a firm yet kind way.
Donia is one of those people where even when she’s wearing a mask, you can tell she’s smiling under it. She’s a huge asset to Qatar Airways, and if I ran the airline I’d give her a promotion or put her in charge of training new hire flight attendants. I’m just sad we didn’t get her on a long haul flight, though I’d route out of my way to fly with her again.
Thanks, Donia, for being an awesome person.
There was a lavatory at the front of the business class cabin, which was meticulously maintained. After every use a new sheet was placed on top of the lid, and toilet paper was also kept in perfect triangles.
Qatar Airways’ regional business class product is in a league of its own. Getting a full three course meal service with pre-departure drinks, an amazing beverage selection, and great bedding, isn’t something you’ll find in many parts of the world. But what really made this flight special was Donia, the exceptional flight attendant.
And to think that this is Qatar Airways’ “worst” business class product…
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