#8 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
627 reviews
After a week spent in Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen, it was time to head back to the US. Due to scheduling, I arrived at the airport at around 17:00. Normally, the check in counters wouldn't even be open at this time. However, Qatar Airways has an earlier flight to Doha that leaves at 18:50.
I asked the check in agent if I could check in very early and fortunately she did check me in and assigned me an aisle seat in the middle section of the plane.
I went through immigration which was very fast with the automated gates. Security wasn't much of a hassle later, and I was in the terminal in no time. The shopping and duty free options were impressive with numerous luxury brands.
HKIA's main terminal is very large and was the largest in the world at time of opening.
Despite being quite large already, the airport is under expansion with a new terminal building and an additional runway after construction is finished.
Wouldn't be a trip to HKIA without seeing the famous bridge over the ramp.
I spent my time in the airport in the Plaza Premium Lounge before transitioning to the Amex Centurion Lounge. I stayed in the lounge until around 10 minutes before boarding at 23:30. Unfortunately, it was a long walk back to the front of the terminal where my gate was. Despite multiple moving walkways, the walk felt very long.
My flight was operated by A7-BOH, a 13 year old 777-367ER originally delivered to Cathay Pacific in April 2011 as B-KPT. Qatar Airways leased six former CX 777-300ERs and the flights to Hong Kong are operated exclusively by these jets. Very fitting for their purpose I would say.
Boarding started a few minutes after the scheduled boarding time. Qatar Airways boards its economy passengers in zones based off of row number. I would be in Zone 2 for this flight.
After boarding, I passed through the business class mini cabin and premium economy cabin before entering the forward economy cabin. As you can see, Qatar Airways did not refurbish the seats as they are still in Cathay Pacific upholstery. The premium economy section was arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration and sold as upgraded economy seats.
My seat was located in the rear economy section.
Waiting on each seat was a pillow, blanket, a pair of on-ear headphones, and an economy amenity kit. The amenity kit was a very nice touch for economy and featured amenities like an eye mask, socks, toothbrush, and toothpaste. The seatback pocket did not contain anything interesting. It's a shame that airlines have done away with the inflight magazine. There were no individual air vents which seems to be common on Asian carrier's planes.
The screen was a large size and ad a double headphone jack and USB-A port underneath. There was also an additional ledge for extra storage with a cup holder that could be folded down. There were power outlets between each pair of seats as well.
As boarding finished, my middle section row only had one other passenger in the other aisle seat, so I would have a free middle seat to use.
The safety video was screened at 00:22 and we pushed back from the gate at 00:33. Takeoff was from Runway 07R. After takeoff we made a long right turn to head south for a bit before heading west towards Doha.
Inflight service began like an hour after takeoff. Qatar Airways posts its menus online before their flights, but you can also view the menus inflight as well via the Qatar Airways website.
I decided to have the Wok-fried beef with oyster sauce. The meal was served with a piece of bread and a bottle of water. Qatar Airways uses metal cutlery in economy class which is nice. I thought that the meal was very good, and it was certainly a lot of food especially when I had already eaten in the lounge. The dessert and couscous salad were good as well.
Sleep was definitely a priority on this flight for me, but I'll showcase the IFE system right now.
Qatar Airways' Oryx One IFE system was very good and actually better on the ex-Cathay plane than the actual Qatar Airways plane (more to follow in the next report).
There were numerous movie choices to choose from and many different categories.
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There was an extremely large selection of movies and TV shows, rivaling US carriers in my opinion. WiFi was available to purchase at $10 for the entire flight which is a fantastic deal.
The moving map was very modern (unlike the next flight), and the screen was very responsive.
There were plentiful lavatories to service all the economy passengers on the plane.
Honestly, I don't remember anything about the supposed "Movie Treats" on the flight, but they were probably available to take in the galleys.
I probably slept for three hours and woke up right before the breakfast service began. Breakfast was served 2 hours and 41 minutes before arrival which doesn't make sense at all when most people were trying to sleep on the 9 hour flight.
Nevertheless, I decided to partake and ordered the Prawn and pumpkin congee. I had some mango juice and the tray came with a croissant, fruit, yogurt, and a bottle of water. The main dish was certainly unique as I couldn't have imagined those two things working with each other, especially served in congee with fried dough sticks as well. However, it was very good, and I did enjoy it. Qatar Airways does a great job with catering and also offers so many special meal options for those with dietary restrictions.
I remember sleeping for another hour after breakfast ended and woke up right before we started our descent into Doha.
We landed in Doha and arrived at our remote stand at 04:48. I was treated to a great view of the GE-90 engine after deplaning.
We had a twenty minute ride to the terminal where it was time to go through transfer security. You don't even have to go through an immigration check if you're just transiting in Doha which is most people. You're not allowed to bring water through transfer security even if it's from the plane, FYI. Besides that, security was fine and I was in the main terminal along with so many other people.
Qatar Airways is regarded as one of the best airlines, and they certainly didn't disappoint on this flight. Despite the bad meal scheduling, everything else was great. The crew was hospitable, the food was very good, the IFE was excellent, and the amenities were good. I was impressed by Qatar Airways, and it made sense after my first flight on them.
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 7 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Hong Kong (HKG) → Doha (DOH).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Cathay Pacific avec 8.4/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 8 heures et 42 minutes.
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2 Comments
Thanks for sharing!
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