Flight
On reaching the aircraft we were greeted at the door and directed to our seats. We were one of the first business passengers to board but other passengers were escorted to their seats. We took our place in 4A and 4C and were proactively welcomed by a number of the staff in the cabin, who introduced themselves by name along with Mohamed who would be looking after us during this flight.
We were offered welcome drinks and amenity kits. The new BRICS amenity kit is great – the hydrating facial mist in particular is a welcome product.
There are clearly differences between the QR and JJ business cabins. It is well known that the QR frame offers 36 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, spread across a main cabin between doors 1 and 2, with a separate mini cabin between door two and economy class. The QATAM A350 Premium Business hard product consists of a smaller 30 seat cabin, spread across five rows in a 2-2-2 configuration. These seats are all located between doors one and two, and there is no secondary business cabin. This also means that there is no onboard bar area like on the QR Frame, and that both J lavatories are located at the front of the cabin ahead of Row 1.
Casting the QR element aside momentarily, the cabin is sleek – it should be, bearing in mind it’s a nearly new, criminally underused aircraft! The seats are comfortable – I prefer a firmer seat and it gives away how new the aircraft is. The ottoman is also firm and within perfect reaching distance for your feet, I am 6’1” and found the seat great.
The seats are wide and comfortable, and come with individual USB and plug sockets, and a second USB socket by the screens. There is a small privacy divider between the seats which isn’t remotely effective in serving its purpose, but the reality is while they are fantastic for a couple like we were, it’s pretty much the same problems you’ll experience as a solo traveller on the other QR 777 and A330 aircraft.
Some Qatar Airways rebranding has gone on inside the cabin, including signage and uploading of the ORYXONE entertainment system. There’s also interestingly TAM headphones, in a Qatar Airways bag, on a LATAM branded aircraft! My wife commented that the screens feel like they are far away from the seat on first glance, but once you get going they are fine.
Seat recommendation wise, Row 5 window seats have two windows, whereas other rows have at least three (and the perception of four). The noise from the galley gets progressively quieter as you head towards the back of the cabin, but isn’t a massive disturbance. One thing that is worth noting is the space between the seats in Row 1 is considerably smaller than elsewhere in the aircraft, from my perspective I would therefore recommend window seats in Rows 3 or 4.
For reference, here's a photo of the forward Economy cabin.
