Hi everyone,
Welcome to the 6th report of this new series covering my latest trip to Sri Lanka and Maldives with Qatar Airways and Korean Air.
The whole trip plan looks like this:
01 FEB - WAW-DOH, QR 264 - A330-300 - https://flight-report.com/en/report/39526/qatar-airways-qr-264-warsaw-waw-doha-doh
01 FEB - DOH-CMB, QR 662 - A350-900 - https://flight-report.com/en/report/39728/qatar-airways-qr-662-doha-doh-colombo-cmb
10 FEB - CMB-MLE, KE 473 - A330-300 - https://flight-report.com/en/report/40077/korean-air-ke-473-colombo-cmb-male-mle
14 FEB - MLE-CMB, KE 474 - A330-300 - https://flight-report.com/en/report/40481/korean-air-ke-474-male-mle-colombo-cmb
16 FEB - CMB-DOH, QR 665 - A340-600 -https://flight-report.com/en/report/40752/qatar-airways-qr665-colombo-cmb-doha-doh
16 FEB - DOH - WAW, QR 261 - B787-800 - you are here
After a flight from Colombo onboard the four engine A340-600, for one more time we arrived to Doha. Having this time quite a lot of time between the flights, no hurry was required.
Having passed my favourite teddy one more time during this trip, we made our way to the freshly opened QR boutique where you can find all the models, caps, t-shirts and the rest of the stuff with airline logo. However the purpose of my visit was the keyring teddy that seems to be a brand new product among QR collectibles. You may also try the 1st class seat located right in the heart of the shop that is generally a very nice and well designed place with very friendly staff.
After some spotting in the food court (that has great spotting facilities as it provides good view of the tarmac), another visit to the lamp teddy and moving dinosaurs that seem to attract kids of all the age groups, also the ones 18+, we started a long walk to our gate located in concourse B.
Our Dreamliner was almost ready for boarding. It will be nice to finally fly the 787 on a longer route as my by then one and only Dreamliner experience was LOT promotion flight to and from FRA in the beginning of 2013.
Boarding was a little bit messy due to big number of transfer passengers from Vietnam, actually whole families with lots of children and hand luggage, that had some problems understanding what travel documents they should present. After a while we were already onboard, in the rear economy cabin of this 787.
The seat seemed at first a little bit less comfortable than the others I know from QR fleet, legroom was also slightly poorer and once more limited by any IFE box, at least the screen was of a good quality.
My seat 30A provided me a great view of the most impressive part of the Dreamliner - the wing.
An A330 was parked next to us
Safety card of this 787
And a different style safety video than the one I know from A320/330/340/380
We pass an A350-900 that has just arrived
and the A340-600 that has just brought us from CMB and is already departing for its next flight
Inflight map showing our current position
We are waiting for our turn to enter the runway for take off next to this fantastic 747-800 cargo. The runway is ours as soon as this 777-300 in One World livery lands
Take off into sloudy skies above Doha. As you can see on the next photos, the air seems quite clear over the sea but it is full of dust as we fly over the city.
Climbing is a little bit bumpy as the clouds are thick and dense, at least the wing looks so nice I can focus on it and forget about the turbulence.
Time to check the automatic window dimming system. It is somehow weird there are no window shades, especially when the windows are so big. It is funny to play with the different shades of blue/grey, mostly beacuse you can take some nice photos fo your instagram. The good thing is you can have your window uncovered and still enjoy the views even with a very strong sun, the bad is you can never forget you are 10 km above the ground :)
Sunset looks better with its original colours
I check the menu card and choose lamb for dinner. I don't know how it happened that I forgot to take a picture of the main dish that was realy good and the quantity was more than abundant so I didn't eat all of it - or maybe I wasn't very hungry? The rest also tasted good, especially the mango cake.
It's time for some "freshly brewed Ceylon tea" that - as usually on a plane - tastes more or less like water with some added colour :(
I take some cabin pictures during a trip to the toilet. 787 is quite wide but short. It has two Y cabins but the front one has hardly any view as it is covered by the giant wing.
A couple of words about the crew on this flight: it was almost entirely female and almost entirely of asian orgin which was quite funny as you could have an impression you fly e.g. Thai Airways. All the girls were extremely polite and hard working but I couldn't see a smile on their faces, definitely this crew wasn't in a good mood that day.
The flight passes somehow quickly and soon we are approaching cold and dark Warsaw
Cabin view after landing
and our Dreamliner's nose seen from the jetbridge
Nothing breaks like a heart when your trip is definitely over and you come back home with a vision of being grounded for at least 2,5 months unless an unexptected business trip occurs that is rather unlikely in this time of the year… Thanks for reading and see you soon in the new series! :)
I would definitely rate QR as the best carrier among Etihad and Emirates and Doha Hamad seems like a very improved facility too (last time I flew with them, they were still using a temporary terminal as the airport itself was under construction), they did cut their service somewhat by delivering only 1 main course and a small snack at the end in which they used to serve two proper meals.... Though I'm not really sure if I would be against such thing as 2 main meals in a mere 6 hour flight is a bit overkill. Thanks for sharing though!
Hi, QR is my one and only by now Gulf airline, so I can't compare it to Emirates or Etihad, but it maintains great level of service and Doha is a very pleasant airport. You are right, two meals on a relatively short flight would be too much, one is fully enough. Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for clarifying that the food court has a good view of the tarmac. I thought you were taking food porn to a new level! (which is one of the reasons why I seldom read F class reports. They make me hungry!)
That teddy looks scarier in every report where I see it! I think the filling is settling and the teddy is slouching slowly. :O
I can't understand that design. I'd rather have no IFE than that box hitting my ankles!
You solved the mystery in the same sentence: "that was realy good" XD
Yummy!
The cockpit windows are huge, too! It's incredible how the inside is clearly visible! You could send that photo to the captain as a souvenir. XD
Glad to know you made it home safe and sound.
Thanks for sharing! :D
Hi Nechus, thanks a lot for your comment! I usually get hungry too when I read flight reports with lounges and catering in business class :) You're right, the captain must have seen me taking this photo, I hope he doesn't mind :) Have a great day!
Thanks for this FR.
Only one meal service on this flight? QR and EK are not very consistent with meals on flights of same duration where sometimes you also have a snack, sometimes not.
I had the same type of crew when I flew QR, efficient but cold.
Hi, sorry for my late reply. There was also a "movie snack" that I forgot to mention: a choice between a packet of crisps or a chocolate bar. Anyway, one good meal for a 5:30 flight is enough and everything is better than QR box with pastry and disgusting muffin. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Loukas, thanks for the last report in this lovely series. It looks like you had a great trip! Yes, the QR 787 is a nice upgrade from the previous A320 operating the route, though A320s have a bit wider seats.
QR cabins are always aesthetically pleasing and the meal presentation is nice for Economy. An overall very good experience for Y.
Thanks fro sharing!
Hi Kevin, thanks for your comment. Oh yes, the whole trip was simply fabulous! It seems that 787 replaced the A320 on the evening rotation only for the winter season as from the beginning of April I can see again the A320 landing around 8 p.m. in WAW. It may also be caused by the fact that the A350-900 is going to replace soon the A330-300/200 on the main rotation, maybe QR thinks it doesn't need so many seats, but I'm pretty sure the 777-300 would also be a good option, especially in the winter. Have a great day!
Haha yeah I wouldn’t be surprised if QR could fill a 77W in winter as I’m sure a lot of Polish are looking for an escape from the cold during the winter months ! ❄️