The Airline: QR
The Segment: DOH-DXB
The Aircraft: A7-ANI, Airbus A350-1000
The Date: Saturday June 29, 2024
The change of ticket included a change of sector direct to DXB so that I could give myself around 2 hours to connect with my UL flight to CMB. The pro was that this was going to be a widebody of some sort, but that I could be QR'ed and therefore I simply expected a widebody.
Went straight to bus gate C80 to board my flight. Being a remote gate, we got no sight of the aircraft but FR24 was showing A7-ANI is my bird this evening.
I was bemused that general boarding was called ahead of First, but was told that the First Class bus would be boarding shortly. Some fellow pax in the F cabin insisted that they were happy to sit on the crowded bus after they missed the previous F bus, so they pushed on into the line.
I was also tempted but the majority remained, so I decided to keep waiting. As it turned out, the F bus pulled in front of the general boarding bus and 12 of us took the F bus and we departed the terminal building while the other bus was still loading pax.
While waiting, my email has pinged notifying that my next UL flight was going to depart late, which gave me some relief that I had made the right call in trying to get to DXB and rejoin my exiting itinerary, although a bit of consternation about whether I would be able to make my connecting flight to KUL in CMB.
My enthused face when I realised that it would be my first A350-1000 flight and also my first QSuites flight, albeit a short 50 min sector!
5A for me, a rear-facing window seat. For such a short flight it really made quite an impression on me. I particularly loved the space and storage compared to the J Suites of BA or the current QF J product. I noticed that other F pax had already settled in their suites, so I clearly had missed an earlier boarding call.
There was a savage glee as I sipped on my Gosset when those F pax clambered on board sweaty and cranky, and trolled after choosing poorly with their bus option. Sometimes you all you need to do is follow simple instructions.
PDB of the QR trademark lemon and min juice and a glass of Gosset.
Arabic coffee and a date was also offered.
Sunset was approaching which was going to make for a spectacular departure.
We passed EC-MLB on the taxiway.
Rotating and climbing into a fiery Doha sunset.
Frapin XO VIP of course.
Lemon and saffron labneh with Arabic bread, roast chicken spring rolls and vegetable spring rolls, and strawberry tartlet.
Frapin served in a takeaway cup to be savoured on short final as my crockery and cutlery were whisked away barely 20 min after serving.
I rather enjoyed the weird sensation of watching the nose camera and then looking out the window and the scenery passing backwards. How novel. Kinda firm landing and a long taxi to the gate.
A brisk walk to Flight Connections and then the labyrinth of corridors to find the BA lounge.