Review: Flying Qatar Airways Boeing 787 business class from Gatwick to Doha

Quite unexpectedly, I found myself flying on Qatar Airways from Gatwick to Doha on the way to Sydney. My original flights were from London Heathrow to Tokyo Haneda but British Airways cancelled my flight from Dublin, then a misconnect meant the whole itinerary was thrown out.

Still, I landed on my feet as the oneworld alliance airline is very good indeed. After checking in, I queued forever in the Premium Security lane in the North Terminal (forever, in this instance, being 40 minutes) before heading to the No1 Lounge.

After visiting the lounge (which was underwhelming), I wandered down to my gate. Soon enough priority boarding was called and I was first on board the aircraft so I could get some pictures.

QR330 – London Gatwick to Doha (LGW-DOH)
3 July 2022
Boeing 787-8 – A7-BCR
Seat: Business Class 1K
Departure: 08:40 Arrival: 17:15

On the Gatwick to Doha route, Qatar Airways use the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with the Super Diamond seats. While they are not the fabled Qsuites, they are very comfortable. Business class comprises of six rows, which you can see here on the seat map.

Qatar Airways 787-8 Business Class

One thing the Doha based airline does well is their interior design. The business class cabins always look immaculate, inviting and are incredibly well dressed in preparation for the passengers arriving.

Once seated, I was asked what I’d like to drink and as always I chose the Champagne. It arrived with a refreshing towel and I relaxed while boarding proceeded. Eventually all were on board, the crew cleared up, played the safety video and off we went into the morning sky.

Toilet Time

I quite love how the Boeing 787-8 has a window in the toilets in business class on Qatar Airways. It makes a pokey little room into a wonderous and luxurious light filled and welcoming place.

When flying this airline, you are guaranteed to always find the bathrooms pristine. No matter when I have visited on any flight, it’s always as though nobody else has been in there. That can’t be said for many other airlines!

What’s On The Menu?

Since the flight departed at 08:40, breakfast was on the menu. You can dine on demand, but I elected to eat straight after take-off as I had saved my appetite for the on board cuisine.

Once I had placed my order, my drink was delivered and it was time to choose something from the Oryx One entertainment system. They do have a good selection of classic films, so I chose It Happened One Night starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert from 1934. I’d seen the film before when it briefly appeared on Netflix, but I wanted to see it again. It’s quite witty and as it was pre-code (by that I mean the Hays Code), it’s quite good.

Breakfast Gatwick to Doha

Anyone who regularly reads my reviews will know the food served is the main event for me. For my starter I had selected the Assiette of Cold Cuts which comprises of smoked balik salmon, smoked trout, caper berry, cream cheese and egg mimosa. I’ve had it before, it’s nice!

It was the first time I’d had the candle as it was not available when I flew during the pandemic. Anyway, I inhaled my food and soon after my main arrived. This is Hand-rolled egg with Arabic tomato and lamb sambousek, with pan fried halloumi cheese and grilled tomato. That turned out to be the breakfast of champions and I devoured it all with relish. I always love it when there is Tabasco sauce as it adds a lovely bit of spice to the proceedings. There are light options on the menu to have later if you wish, but I knew what was coming up (the Al Mourjan Lounge dining room and another flight) so for once I restricted myself.

The Rest Of The Flight

It is a day flight from Gatwick to Doha and since it’s a Boeing 787-8, that means electrically dimmable windows. More specifically, windows the crew can control. Once the meal service was done, the cabin was plunged into darkness when the crew changed the setting.

Having the cabin dark on a day flight – some love it, some hate it. I would have preferred it remain light, but it is what it is. Those windows are one of the things I really dislike about the Dreamliner. Eventually we landed in Doha and I took the pretty amazing first class transfer bus to the terminal to top off my flight.

Overall Thoughts

I have always had a wonderful time when flying Qatar Airways and this flight was no exception. The crew were amicable, the food was tasty (and served by course), the entertainment good and the toilets clean. It’s a comfortable seat to fly in for six hours or so.

The only gripe I have about the oneworld alliance airline is the menu choices. They are often the same flight to flight, even months and months later. The Assiette of Cold Cuts was on flights I took 18 months ago and it’s still here, for example. Maybe I just get unlucky, but I’ve noticed it before. The menus seem to stay in rotation for a long time, but as I said, it’s a minor quibble.

What do you think of my review of Qatar Airways business class? Have you flown with them and what do you think? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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