Review of Qatar Airways flight Oslo Doha in Business

Airline Qatar Airways
Flight QR176
Class Business
Seat 6F
Aircraft Airbus A350-900
Flight time 06:35
Take-off 16 Dec 18, 16:15
Arrival at 17 Dec 18, 00:50
QR   #10 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 634 reviews
bldavid
By GOLD 3325
Published on 18th January 2019
We live in Iceland and several of our family members live near Melbourne, Australia, so we decided to spend Christmas there. The two airports - Keflavík and Melbourne - are not exactly close to each other, the distance being 10,539 miles (about 17,000 kms). If there was a direct flight it would overfly Svalbard, Eastern Siberia, North-East China and Eastern Indonesia and it would take about 21 hours. But there's of course no direct flight. So how should we get there?

We knew we didn't want to fly economy and we didn't have the budget for most business class flights, so we had to look for an exceptionally good deal in business class. Connecting flights from Iceland to Africa, Asia or Australia are never good value. London, Copenhagen, Frankfurt or Germany are usually among the more expensive departure airports. Amsterdam or Paris can have better deals but none was available at that time.

We checked premium economy as well, and although Singapore Airlines' great premium economy was bookable at a reasonable price from Stockholm to Melbourne via Moscow and Singapore, we still hoped for a good price in business.

We considered for a long time, and we even held a booking for some time, to fly from Cairo. A CAI-MCT-KUL-MEL in business class was offered by Oman Air and Malaysia Airlines at a price similar to many economy class flights from Europe to Australia. But direct flights from Europe to Cairo are overpriced even in economy and connecting flights can have unfavorable schedules.

So what was the solution? Oslo is usually, maybe surprisingly for some of you, the cheapest airport for long-haul business class flights from Europe. And there came a promotional offer: Oslo to Perth with Qatar Airways and Auckland to Oslo with China Southern. Yes, we wanted to fly to Melbourne but why not to visit Western Australia for a few days? And yes, the return leg was from New Zealand but we could finally visit NZ as well - and the flight was even slightly cheaper than a return from Australia.


The final routing was:

Keflavík to Oslo, SAS, premium economy
Oslo to Doha, Qatar, business
Doha to Perth, Qatar, business
Perth to Melbourne, Qantas, economy
Melbourne to Christchurch, Qantas, economy
Christchurch to Auckland, Air New Zealand, economy
Auckland to Guangzhou, China Southern, business
Guangzhou to Amsterdam, China Southern, business
Amsterdam to Oslo, KLM, business

Oslo Airport is beautiful and modern.

photo 01

It's a very busy airport with a lot of domestic and intra-European destinations and a handful of long-haul flights: Emirates to Dubai, Ethiopian to Addis, Hainan to Beijng, Norwegian to Bangkok, Fort Laudardale, Krabi, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, PIA to Islamabad and Lahore, Qatar to Doha, SAS to New York and Thai Airways to Bangkok.

Ethiopian has usually outstanding business class promotions to Africa twice a year. Qatar's cheapest business class offers from Europe to Asia and Australia/New Zealand are usually from Oslo. Norwegian has a long-haul premium economy product that can be interesting, although a lot of changes can be expected in their route network.

photo 02photo 03


There was no queue at business class check-in. We had to wait a little bit due to some technical issues but the supervisor was very apologetic.

photo 04


Fast track is of course included both for boarding pass control and security

photo 05


You have to walk through the large duty free area to get to the lounge

photo 06


Follow the signs!

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Go upstairs and turn left

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The airlines that use OSL Lounge

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OSL Lounge has two parts. The one that can be used by Qatar's business passengers is called OSL Lounge Premium

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Seating areas

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The food offer was quite good for a business lounge in Europe



The drink offer was somehow limited. Soft drinks and beer were also available (no photo)

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The lounge is before border control. We left the lounge 80 minutes before departure. We missed priority boarding by the time we got to the gate

photo 20

Our aircraft waiting for us in the snow

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Upon boarding I was escorted to my seat. My first impression was that the cabin was absolutely stunning, beautiful. It reminded me more of first class than business class, although it was quite large with six rows of seats. The seats were in a 1-2-1 configuration. An overview of the cabin (photo taken later during the flight - note the very characteristic mood lighting):

photo 00photo 22

The seat is of course very comfortable.

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Legroom is plenty

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Another view of the seat: storage space, reading lamp, water and amenity kit

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Seat controls

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Details of the amenity kit



Lea introduced herself and offered a welcome drink shortly after I took my seat. I choose Qatar Airways' signature lemon mint - it's so good I'd like to have it every day. It was served with a choice of cold or hot towel.

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Menus were distributed before departure. Qatar does not have set meal times or set menus: you eat when you want and what you want. This is extremely convenient and gives Qatar Airways a huge advantage against other airlines that do not offer this service.



The drink menu:

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The wine list:



The meal and drink order was taken while we were still on the ground.

Push-back was on time at 16.15 and was followed by a long deicing. We took off at 16.50 from runway 19.

Some more lemon mint, champagne and warm nuts were served shortly after the seatbelt signs were turned off

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My table was beautifully prepared for dinner.

photo 51

Cold smoked salmon with horseradish and chive crushed potato salad

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Sweet corn soup

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Lamb loin with herb butter, dauphinoise potato, ratatouille and lamb jus sauce

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Fresh berries with orange syrup.

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Godiva chocolates

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I was perfectly satisfied with my dinner and I can clearly give 10/10:
- the cold salmon was good, the sweet corn soup was very, very good, the lamb was also good, and the fresh berries with orange syrup were absolutely delicious,
- everything was served quickly by a can't-be-better cabin crew,
- the attention to details in the service was remarkable.

It was time to relax and enjoy the in-flight entertainment. The screen built into the seat in front of me was big, easy to use and responsive.

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The headphones

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The entertainment is divided into four parts:

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The flight map looks like this:



Some self-promotion about Qatar Airways:

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Cameras are also available - they're of course especially interesting during take-off and landing

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There's a very high number of movies you can choose from (not all movies are on the photos):



More movies:



And more movies:



So you can watch a movie while eating…

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Or you can have a look at Qatar Airway's fleet in the on-board magazine

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You can see who is behind many of the airline's main decisions

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…such as the new routes Qatar will serve

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Or you can listen to music. The choice is also as big as for the movies (not all disks are on the photos)



Some more music



A view of the cabin towards to end of the flight

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The berries with the orange syrup were so delicious I asked for some more

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I went to shave - I think it was the first time for me in a plane

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Almost in Doha

photo 125

Lea came to thank me for flying Qatar Airways and asked if everything was OK during the flight.

We landed in Doha at 00.50 local time for a scheduled arrival time of 00.40.

Thank you for reading my flight report - please feel free to comment.
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Verdict

Qatar Airways

10.0/10
Cabin10.0
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi10.0
Meal/catering10.0

OSL OSLounge

7.5/10
Comfort8.5
Meal/catering7.5
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Services7.0

Oslo - OSL

9.0/10
Efficiency9.0
Access9.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness9.0

Doha - DOH

9.0/10
Efficiency9.0
Access9.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness9.0

Conclusion

Qatar Airway offers one of the best business class products in the world. The cabin was beautiful, the seat very comfortable, the service outstanding, the food delicious and there was a huge choice of movies and music. Moreover the price I paid for this booking was very low for the distance, making this flight extremely good value.

Information on the route Oslo (OSL) Doha (DOH)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 6 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Oslo (OSL) → Doha (DOH).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Qatar Airways avec 8.3/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 6 heures et 18 minutes.

  More information

4 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 484689 by
    hometoyyz 539 Comments
    Hello, BLDavid!

    Thanks for sharing this great route at QR!

    “You have to walk through the large duty free area to get to the lounge”
    - I fear the next step in airport design is “You have to buy something in the large duty free to get to the lounge.”

    At first, it didn’t register with me that the “estimated waiting time” sign outside the lounge was a screen. I thought they were cocky, putting up a permanent “five minute wait” sign.

    The lounge looks quite nice, especially for a contract lounge.

    “The lounge is before border control. We left the lounge 80 minutes before departure. We missed priority boarding by the time we got to the gate”
    - I guess I understand why the lounge is before border control, to make it more available to everyone but still, that’s annoying. And why did you miss priority boarding? Did they start boarding that early, or was the line at passport control that much more than the advertised five mintues?

    Poor desert plane having to freeze in the snow.

    QR does a nice job on the finishings of one of the best business class seats in the sky, aside from their own Q-suites, of course. Design, storage, functionality. It looks like a good package.

    Qatar’s table setting is almost on par with Turkish. Almost.

    Catering looks good, even if sweet corn soup wouldn’t be my first choice. That main course, though. Of course, I’m very partial towards lamb, so I have clear bias here.

    Shaves on a plane? There’s a joke in there somewhere, and it features Samuel L. Jackson.

    I take it there was no planned second meal, just dine on demand if you wanted something more to eat before arrival?

    As always, QR business class looks amazing. I really have to find a way to try it out sometime.

    Thanks again for sharing!
    • Comment 484891 by
      bldavid GOLD AUTHOR 308 Comments
      Hi hometoyyz, thank you for your comment. I'm sure some people miss the lounge as they hurry first through passport control but I found the lounge quite OK. We missed priority boarding as we bought quickly a few things before getting to the gate - not a big deal. Catering was very good and unlike on BA and some other airlines there are no first or second meals - you just eat whenever you feel like.
  • Comment 484938 by
    atco 134 Comments
    Hi Bldavid,

    Reposting my comment lost in the crash!
    Thank you for this superb report.

    The airport at Oslo looks very nice indeed.

    I can't possibly imagine what it feels like to step into that QR business cabin for the first time. It looks absolutely breathtaking.

    Looks like a wonderful experience from start to finish. Superb seat, food, crew and IFE.
    QR really is at the very top of the top tier of World airlines and much like Hometoyyz I'm going to have to figure out a way to try them on a trip.

    Thanks for this report, its reports like this that have inspired me over the last 24 months and you can bet this is just pushing me closer to plan an itinerary involving QR !

    Safe travels
  • Comment 484982 by
    bldavid GOLD AUTHOR 308 Comments
    Hi Atco, thank you for your comment. Yes, Qatar's business is probably one of the best in the industry. I hope you can fly QR soon!

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