QR is the only airline I would say is a genuine contender against EK as they have very modern planes, nice hard product, the new airport in DOH is quite good now and their fleet is more or less uniform, unlike EY which sucks in all the above. HOwever as pomkiwi notes, the issue is schedule... just can't beat EK on schedule. Where EK flights 4 or 5 years ago used to routinely have 7-10 hour layovers in DXB on some itineraries I now never have more than 4h (and usually with a shorter connection available with a less pleasant departure time so I choose the longer connection).