Review: Qatar Airways 787 Dreamliner business class Doha to Dublin

After flying from Sydney to Doha in Qatar Airways’ Qsuites, I arrived at Hamad International Airport. My first port of call was the Al Mourjan Business Class lounge, where I had a shower before heading from Doha to Dublin.

I had eaten well on my previous flight, so I did not partake in the restaurant in the lounge. Eventually, it was time to leave and I wandered off to my gate.

At The Gate

Along the way, my boarding pass was checked as you could only access the pier if you had a boarding pass for those gates. Once through, I was checked and admitted to the gate lounge.

After sitting around for a while, it was time to board and I was one of the first on the aircraft. The crew welcomed me at the door and I arrived at my seat.

QR17 – Doha to Dublin (DOH-DUB)
17 January 2021
Boeing 787-8 – A7-BCZ
Seat: Business Class 2A
Departure: 07:30 Arrival: 12:30

After stowing my cabin bag in the overhead locker, I was asked if I would like a welcome drink. As is my usual, I requested a rosé Champagne and it arrived shortly after.

Business Class Seating

The Boeing 787-8 does not have the new Qsuites, but this is no big deal. The existing seat is very comfortable for an eight hour flight from Doha to Dublin.

While boarding continued, I sipped my Champagne and noted how busy business class was. There were plenty of people on board, which was great to see.

Food Ordering and Safety

Before take-off, the cabin crew come by and ask for your meal order. As Qatar Airways offer dine on demand, you can eat at any time during the flight. I opted to have the Beef Bourguignon from the Light Options menu after take-off and to have the full breakfast prior to landing.

Soon enough we pushed back from the stand and the video safety demonstration played. It’s an amusing enough one with football people doing sports things in an aviation slanted way. While taxiing out to the runway, I spotted a Douglas DC-8. For those that don’t know, there are only a couple of these vintage aircraft still flying, so I was very surprised! Shortly enough we took to the sky and headed off to Dublin. It promised to be a smooth flight, which was a nice change from the previous one, which had been a little bumpy.

Snack Time

Once in the air, I started browsing around the Oryx One entertainment system. New shows such as Star Trek Picard were available, but I ended up going for Grand Hotel, a classic black and white film from 1932.

Shortly enough my Beef Bourguignon arrived, and it was shockingly delicious. Like really, really surprisingly good! So good that after I finished, I asked the crew to scrap my breakfast order and to give me another one of those before landing instead.

Minor Disappointments

Apologetically, she came back to advise there were none left as other passengers had reserved them. Those finks! Instead, I asked for the beef and chicken sliders. Alas, once again the same thing – all reserved already. I cast a stink eye around the cabin and stuck with my original breakfast order.

Requesting another Taittinger resulted in more apologies, apparently everyone had been hitting it and there was none left. Irish passengers know how to drink, so I was not particularly surprised and switched to the Pommery instead.

Breakfast Time Flying Doha To Dublin

Once Grand Hotel had finished, I decided to watch Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. I’d seen that in the cinema and enjoyed it, especially for the surprising shots of Brad Pitt on a roof. Nearer to arrival, it was time for breakfast.

I had the exact same starters in December on my Stockholm to Doha A350 flight and the same entire breakfast on my Doha to Adelaide flight the same month. Luckily it is delicious as anything, with the greek yoghurt being a real stand out, however it didn’t make for a lot of variety for me personally.

Time To Land

After the delicious and filling breakfast, I finished watching my movie and relaxed for the remainder of the flight. It’s always nice to watch the world go by and follow along with the map.

We eventually landed and I breezed through immigration, where they checked my contact tracing form and PCR test as well as my Passport. Such a breeze compared to my departure experience.

Overall Thoughts

Qatar Airways business class is always top notch, regardless of what kind of seat you get. The flight attendants provide wonderful service, dine on demand is really great, and the food quality is very good. There is more variety to the meals, I just happened to be on a bunch of services where breakfast was offered as the meal.

I’ve never had them run out of so many things before, but I place that blame squarely on the Irish passengers. It seems they know which things to choose to eat and drink. In fairness, a good many of them were also connecting from various Australia flights, so I daresay we all wanted light meals and expensive Champagne, which is why they all ran out!

Have you flown Doha to Dublin in business class before? What do you think of Qatar Airways? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

Like planes? See my “Does anyone remember” series.
Flight reviews your thing? Mine are all indexed here.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.