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Sep 19, 2014 | 10:31 am

QatarA340

Join Date: Apr 2009

Location: Doha, Qatar

Programs: QR Platinum

Posts: 952

Qatar Airways A380 Trip Report

Welcome to my TRIP REPORT!

** I have embedded my Youtube videos here; but if they do not work, please click on the link provided**

Video Summary:

Economy Class:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1WuRN9OtdM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BVjvq6EI_I

Business Class:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zof9iZsK3Tg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrGYmiDI_k0

First Class:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOnuwCa_0sU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvQvgrq_9iY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edb4yj3427o (electronic windows)

Unveiling Ceremony:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCF8b7XbEM8

This is not just a standard Trip Report; for one thing I did not fly anywhere; however, I think this is a very important one. For one thing, the world’s best airline Qatar Airways has just received the new Queen of the Skies, with a ceremony fit for a king!

Going to the airport, there are signs near the bridges over the lagoons leading to the terminal. The first floor parking had signs that say “Our A380, this way.” I was overjoyed to see this sign. I parked my car and entered the terminal towards the First and Business Class area.

There, I saw a lot for reporters, aviation geeks, and Qatar Airways employees congregating and talking about the arrival of the A380. Once we registered, given our name tags, we proceeded to a bus outside the terminal. There, the bus carrying media crew, brought us over to the aircraft maintenance hanger.

The 15 minute bus ride reminded me of the old DOH, where some planes parked really far from the now not-in-use terminal.

Once we arrived, there was a lovely hallway passageway with pictures along the sides leading to an entrance—a party-like standing congregation hall. Behind that was the press conference and a huge TV screen with LIVE pictures of Qatar’s A380 as it arrives from Hamburg—making a flying display at Doha’s Cornish, the promenade facing Doha’s glittering skyscrapers.

Everyone was in festive mood! EVERYONE! Everyone was watching with smiles in their faces. The whole airport was BUILT for the purpose of serving the A380; its runways were designed to accommodate the A380. The terminal building was built with the A380 in mind. How could we not be happy!

I left the side door of the hanger and proceeded outside the hot and humid weather in order to greet the huge superjumbo. As the maintenance hanger is perpendicular to the runways, we did not see it land. Only those inside the hanger saw it in the screens. As I was outside, I did not see it. As we were there socializing, we saw two cars turn left from the West Runway and then there she is! The current QUEEN OF THE SKIES.

Reporters scrammed to get their Canon’s and Leica’s snapping. Reporters were busy recording the coverage. I was busy with taking these pics below LOL. Once the A380 came near, we were awestruck by its size. Im not sure if Im alone in this, but the A380 is so big that it looks too big to be true—so it looks small. Yes, it doesn’t make sense. But, I think it looks like a fat A319; but beautiful nonetheless.

Once the plane stopped, two rows of beautiful QR ladies lined up to the sides of the Red Carpet. The plane door opened, and the big boss came out greeted everyone, and proceeded inside the hanger. We were told to go back inside and wait for the press conference.

The press conference was very exciting although most of the questions were stupid like “How much did you buy the planes for?” Two questions were really funny. A Bloomberg reporter asked Al-Baker if and when the IPO was planned to be launched. Al-Baker slammed the reporter “I do not know why you ask the same question every time? Do you think I do not recognize you this time? Or did you simply forget the answer? Stop repeating the same thing.” There was laughter all over the hanger. I do not even remember if he answered or not. Another question was from local Al-Jazeera English channel about the 787 program. Al-Baker slammed Al-Jazeera. “Just because there are a couple of employees on drugs, doesn’t mean the whole company is on drugs! It is normal in every major company to have disgruntled former employees to show the wrong image of the company. We would never put any passenger at risk in flying any of our planes. The 787 despite some technical problems like software, flaps, ect.. is 100% safe to fly” The quote is not exactly what he said, but the content is correct.

Once we were over the press conference, we went back to meeting area for some snacks. Later on, we were called back to the press conference for the official unveiling.

The Qatari National Anthem was played, and His Highness the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdulla Bin Nasser Al-Thani arrived and sat in his chair, with Al-Baker and Al-Nuaimi on his sides. Barcelona’s Suarez and Puyol were there for the event. Luckily Suarez didn’t bite me! Lol

I shot the entire unveiling here:

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/WCF8b7XbEM8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCF8b7XbEM8

Next we proceeded to enter the plane, after His Highness has taken his Private Tour of the plane. I was greeted by the QR ladies who were smiling and wishing me that I enjoy the plane. I boarded the stairs, which seemed higher than normal stairs.

Once I entered the plane, I turned right towards the second chunk of economy seats. There were lots and lots of seats. The dark colors of grey and burgundy give this plane a different “feel” than other QR jets. The material used in the seats is new, I have never seen this before. It reminded me of a sports car seats—or a high end Hermes feel. If you are not fans of grey and burgundy you will not like it. But I cannot anyone not liking the real-life feel of the cabin. The cabin rest area is located underground downstairs as opposed to EK’s A380 which are in the back of the cabin.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4BVjvq6EI_I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BVjvq6EI_I

The IFE is at least two generations into the future. I have never seen this before in economy class. The TV’s are fairly large, and an individual Android remote control in each seat. The seat itself had ample seat pitch, definitely bigger than the Boeing 787. The seats were on par with QR’s 777’s seat, but even better. The seat is designed to go forward when reclining so not to disturb the seat behind you. I’m a fairly large person, but the seat is still comfortable to sit on and relax. The galley’s were decorated in burgundy colors and pictures of landscapes and cityscapes from around the world decorate the walls. The toilets were average sized—but beautifully decorated with wooden floors and nice decorations. I proceeded to the curved stairs at the back of the plane.

The stairs were covered in dark teak wood and burgundy colors. VERY ELEGANT! Like a five star boutique hotel Upstairs is a small economy section, which to my point of view is a whole world away from the economy seats downstairs. I think QR should have marketed this as Premium Economy. The section feels exclusive like a small private carrier. There are two rows with huge legroom—the first row, and the exit row. I think there were less than seven rows in total. The window seats contain storage space for your personal belongings! I would certainly not mind staying up there. Plus, the galley and staircase make the whole section feel “premium”.

After that section in the economy, you enter the Lounge. When I entered it was packed with people—who were annoyingly eating chips and sipping away with their drinks. I use the word annoyingly because there shouldn’t be anyone there for the unveiling. We need to see how the lounge looks without all those people!

The whole area is a deja-vu of the A340 lounge which I had the pleasure to use in my previous A340 flights. There is a long curving table in the middle, with leather sofas to the sides of the walls. Two light pieces are centered over the table and a wine cabinet in the wall behind the table. The whole are looks inviting—but I can imagine it will be very noisy for people who know each other.

After the lounge, is one large chunk of business class. It is near identical of Qatar’s 787 seats, which is a good thing. The difference is the color of the center seats. The other difference is the TV screens, which I think the A380 has slightly larger screens and buttons on the actual screens. The bezel around the screens are smaller in the A380. I kind of wished the Lounge would be between Business and First or in the middle of the Business Class section. But, as it can get noisy perhaps it’s a good idea to have it at the very back.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jrGYmiDI_k0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrGYmiDI_k0

The seats are comfortable, wide, and very personal. I would have preferred two mini-business class sections instead of one, but one will do fine. The seats have many advantages:
1. Easy to get on and off
2. Wide shoulder area to sleep on
3. Aisle/window access
4. Big TV screens
5. Ample storage space options
6. Personal table in each seat
7. A personal storage cubicle at the front of the business class seats

After the visit of the Business Class cabin there was a big galley area, with burgundy walls, and some paintings. There were also Business Class toilets—which I thought would have been nicer if they were bigger. They nearly the same size as the economy ones. The ones on the 777s are bigger, and the one at the AA 77W are HUGE.

After the galley near the front of the upper deck is the First Class. It is beautiful MUCH MUCH better in real life than in the pictures. The pictures DO NOT DO THIS JUSTICE. First of all, the whole ambiance gives you the idea of a personal private jet or an exclusive hotel. The seats are private, yes they are not suites, but there are divides beautifully decorated with a line of gold in the middle. SIMPLE, ELEGANT, and what Al-Baker calls CLASS! The seats are HUGE and the Beige leather reminds me of Bulgari or Bucheron. The window shades are electronically controlled just like the lounge. There is a personal closet in every seat, which contains the amenity kits, and the earphones.

Video of Electronic Window Shades Opening:

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/edb4yj3427o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edb4yj3427o

Last edited by QatarA340; Sep 19, 2014 at 5:25 pm