Qatar Airways #A380 London Heathrow to Doha Economy Cabin Flight Review

Qatar Airways, is the state owned flag carrier of Qatar, with a fleet of more than 180 aircrafts, all flights go throught their hub airport Hamad International in Doha, recently voted best airport by Skytrax. Qatar Airways was also awarded best ” Up in the Air Experience” in 2016 by the Future Travel Experience Awards, so my expectations were high from the off. Here’s my A380 Economy experience.

Flight: London Heathrow (LHR) to Doha (DOH)

Seat: 59k ( upper deck )
56 seats / 2-4-2 formation

Plane Type: Airbus A380

Boarding

Upon boarding I made my way up the back stairs to the upper deck, there’s a galley and toilets located at the rear for the economy cabin, so there’s no need to venture back downstairs.

When I reached my seat, I was surprised to find that Qatar Airways are still giving out amenity kits in economy, as these seem to have been cut from a number of airlines economy cabins recently. It was standard stuff , but the eye mask was nice and thick so it made it home with me after the flight.

One of the downsides of sitting on the upper deck, is that you get to hear the constant clink of champange glasses coming from the business class passengers in adjacent lounge, just the other side of the curtain, it was a proper FOMO moment. A rope was firmly fixed across the entrance, just in case any economy passenger decided to try and sneak in when the crew’s back is turned.

Cabin & Seat

With only 7 rows and 56 seats , in my humble opinion Qatars Upper Deck Economy Cabin is on par with some other airlines Premium Economy offerings.

Theres only one tiny snag… , these seats are not bookable online, the official line is you’ve got to have status, ie be a frequent flyer to be offered an Economy seat on the top deck. My best advice is to ask Very nicely , if there’s any chance you can be moved to the upper deck . I managed to get my seat changed, but not until I got to the gate, and totally lucked out and got bulkhead seat 59k. The cabin was only at most only 50% full, so everyone got to spread out over the cabin.

Entertainment

The Qatar Airways Oryx One entertainment system, has a 10.6 inch touchscreen TV screen with more than 3,000 entertainment options, in more than 30 languages. There’s blockbuster movies , full box sets to popular TV series, and music from around the world, there was more than enough to keep me entertained on a relatively short 7 hour flight. The screen also had a USB plug to keep everything nicely charged throughout the flight.

Food Service

When travelling in the economy cabin I usually try an order a special meal , this is to ensure that I get served ahead of the general service, ie no waiting ages to get served.

This flight I requested a low calorie meal , and whilst i would question if cod is really a breakfast food, the presentation was good and it tasted great. In fact I ended up skipping the mid afternoon snack as I was so full ( apologies, totally forgot to photograph it for the review ). I believe the afternoon snack was a sandwich, there was a couple of the usual drinks service , plus I also got a couple of tea’s on request. The upper deck had it’s own dedicated crew & galley , so the dinner service was pretty swift with a half full a cabin.

In My Opinion….

I have a confession , before this flight I was already a great fan of the A380. Getting a seat of the upper deck was the icing on the cake for me. Service was attentive, friendly and professional. As far as i’m aware Qatar Airways is the only airline that has an economy cabin upstairs on the A380, so it would definately be worth booking and trying to get upstairs. The Qatar Airways A380 economy cabin comes highly reccommended and I wouldnt hesitate to book with them in the future.

For more information fares and routes check out Qatar Airways website

Please note I paid for my ticket in full for this flight,and I was not compensated in any way by Qatar Airways to write this review, opinions are all my own as usual.