What is business class like on the upper deck of a Qatar Airways A380 from Doha to Sydney?

I had originally planned to fly to Sydney via Tokyo, but cancellations and general chaos meant I was re-routed. Instead, I got to fly on the Qatar Airways A380 from Doha, which has recently been returned to service.

After spending some time in the Al Mourjan lounge, I headed down to gate C13 where we were to board. There are two sides to the gate entry and waiting areas, one for economy class and one for first and business class.

After waiting inside for a little while, we were permitted to leave, having our boarding passes scanned again. It was then a walk to board straight into the upper deck of the plane.

QR908 – Doha to Sydney (DOH-SYD)
3 July 2022
Airbus A380 – A7-API
Seat: Business Class 10K
Departure: 20:30 Arrival: 17:25+1

I quickly found my seat at the front of the business class cabin. Upstairs on the Qatar Airways A380 is first class, business class, the bar and a small section of economy class at the rear, which you can see on the seating plan here.

Qatar Airways A380 Business Class Seat

There are no Qsuites on this aircraft and instead it features 48 of the older Super Diamond seats. These continue to be a modern product and are perfectly comfortable for flying.

Shortly after taking my seat, I was asked what I would like for my welcome drink and I took a Champagne. There was a ladies amenity kit at my seat, which the crew offered to switch for a men’s one, but as the only difference is the fragrance, I kept the one I had.

What’s On The Menu?

The service to Sydney is around 14 hours from Doha, which means there is a full à la carte dinner offered as well as breakfast. You can have anything at any time, and I really like the dine on demand concept so I can suit myself.

Orders were taken before take-off. I elected to start with afternoon tea, and then have dinner before landing in Sydney. Later I was advised to have the ice cream for dessert earlier as it would have melted by the end of the flight, so I decided to have it first.

Off We Go!

After the safety demonstration played on the monitors, we headed to the runway and into the warm sky above Doha. Shortly after the seat belt sign was turned off I headed to the toilet.

My next drink arrived and I set about looking for something to watch on the Oryx One system, settling for The Matrix Resurrections. I popped on my headphones and started the film. Content is often edited when flying this airline, so swearing and some references are changed here and there. I’m not a fan of this at all, as I believe it should remain as originally intended by the creators.

Afternoon Tea Is Served

Next, it was time for my afternoon tea. I quite like the whole sandwiches, scones and all the rest of it, no matter which airline is serving it up. It’s usually quite nice and I wanted something relatively light as I’d eaten in the lounge before the flight.

Happily it was all very delicious, with the service being spot on as usual. The Qatar Airways crew never leave you waiting for long periods once one course is finished, which is great attention to detail.

The Qatar A380 Bar

After the movie was done, I headed off to visit the bar. This is located at the rear of the business class cabin and I was excited to give it a try as I’d never been to a bar on a flight before. When I arrived, I found two other passengers there, and after a while they left and it was just me.

I spent some time chatting to the lovely crew and trying some of the snacks. They assured me on daytime flights the bar was usually very busy. Anyway, I wrote up a full article with lots of pictures of the bar which you can see here.

Dinner Is Served

The hours passed quite quickly and soon enough it was only a couple of hours until top of descent, which is when my dinner was going to be served. First up came an amuse-bouche, followed by the soup. When they deliver the soup, it has a lid on the bowl, which they remove with a flourish after they set it down. It’s kinda fun!

All the courses arrived promptly and I found it all quite nice. Even the polenta with the beef cheeks tasted okay, and I’m not really a fan of polenta. The black plate the dessert was presented on was really slick, maybe this is from the first class cabin? Looks fantastic! Once done, everything was cleared away, the chocolates arrived and we descended and landed into Sydney after a few circles along the way.

Overall Thoughts

The Qatar Airways A380 is a wonderful way to fly. It’s a comfortable aircraft and that coupled with the oneworld alliance airline’s seat and attentive friendly on board service makes it a complete win.

Being able to dine on demand remains a wonderful feature of the service. Since I had eaten on the ground, being forced to have a four course dinner immediately after take-off would not have been great for me, so I really appreciate it.

The Airbus A380 has only been reactivated at the Doha based airline on a temporary basis. It is anticipated they will be retired for good in due course, so if you want to experience the bar (and first class, for that matter) you had best do so sooner rather than later.

Have you flown on board the Qatar Airways double decker before? Ever tried the bar? What do you think of their product? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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