Qatar Airways is one of just ten airlines in the world to be 5 star rated by Skytrax. While a lot has been written about how fantastic business class is on their aircraft, what about economy class?

Daily service is operated between Dublin and Doha, connecting to the airlines network of over 150 destinations worldwide. Economy class featured a number of pleasant surprises for me, so let’s have a look.

QR20 – Dublin to Doha (DUB-DOH)
10 July 2018
Boeing 787-8 – A7-BCC
Seat: Economy Class 12A
Departure: 08:45 Arrival: 17:50

After spending a little time in the sadly lacking DAA Executive Lounge in Terminal 1 at Dublin, I headed off to the 300 gates to await boarding. Families are invited to board first, followed by those with priority boarding privileges.

Qatar’s 787 Economy Class Cabin

Virtually all airlines have economy class seated in three lots of three across the aircraft and Qatar Airways is no exception. Each seat is laid out with a pillow and a blanket for ready use once on board.

Sitting down I found the leg room to be ample, and the entertainment box in front did not impede the space. My pillow and blanket eventually went up into the overhead locker as I don’t use them on day flights.


Electrically dimming windows are a part of the standard fit out on the Boeing 787. In flight, the crew dimmed all the windows but passengers still had control to select whatever level of opaque they required.

Seating is quite comfortable and the cabin environment is enhanced by Boeing’s dynamic lighting, which people refer to as mood lighting. It is all really well put together.

A Refreshing Towel

My first pleasant surprise of the day is that refreshing towels are handed out in economy class. Usually a hot or cold towel is given to business class passengers and this was my first experience of an equivalent in the cheap seats.


Using one of these to wipe off the general airport gunge is really welcome. The pull down tray table is able to do both half size and full size, which is also something featured in World Traveller on the British Airways Boeing 777-300ER.

A Menu and Entertainment

Another happy event on my flight was the provision of a menu for the economy class passengers. This definitely adds to the premium feel of the airline and is another tick box as to why they are rated 5 star.


Oryx One is the Qatar Airways inflight entertainment system and it features things such as all the Star Wars movies. There is plenty to watch. I hadn’t seen The Last Jedi so I planned to check that out on my flight.

Breakfast Time

On Qatar Airways the safety demonstration is entirely video based, then you head to the runway and into the air. Cabin service starts soon after and as I was in a forward row, the food came quite quickly.

Pleasingly, the croissant is added to the tray by the crew. This is heated separately meaning it comes to you warm and ready to eat. Nothing is worse than cold bread, and this was delicious with the jam provided.


Scrambled egg always looks a bit like a pile of baby spew on flights and it’s usually quite tasteless. I always eat it in conjunction with other parts of the meal which makes it quite palatable. Overall the food quality was very good, and I have no complaints.

Being given metal cutlery in economy class is so nice – I really prefer it to plastic so happy days! The crew offer additional drinks, so I had a pineapple juice and a water. I also asked for a Baileys with ice and it came a little later on. Fantastic service and nothing is too much trouble.

How About That Dreamliner Toilet?

Having flown on several airlines Boeing 787s, I have discovered that the toilets are standard across the board. One looks like another, with the only difference being some of the items inside.


A notable thing about Qatar Airways is the bathrooms are always spotlessly clean. No matter when you visit during flight, it is like no-one has ever been there, so well done to the tireless cabin crew for this! It’s so welcome.

Another Drink and a Discovery!

Trays are collected later in the flight and at that time I asked for another Baileys. This was delivered a little later once the crew had cleared in.


Something was wrong with my entertainment screen. It kept jumping out of the movie and despite three resets by the crew, it just wouldn’t let me watch continuously. Eventually I went for the inflight magazine and found the menu from the previous flight in there. Interesting!

A Snack Before Landing

Spending the remainder of the flight listening to music from my phone was a nice way to wile away the time. During this time, the crew come through with a tray of water and juices in case anyone is thirsty, which is really good. No disappearing crew here! Before landing, it was time for another meal and the choice was a chicken sandwich or vegetarian sandwich.


Selecting chicken, I noted the box says “Chicken Shawarma Arabic Pastry and Vanilla and Coconut Sponge”. Well this hot treat was very moreish! Extremely tasty on both accounts and I could have had five more of them. A wonderful surprise! Soon we landed safely into Doha.

Overall Thoughts

Qatar Airways economy class is very good indeed. The little details made the flight, such as the refreshing towel, menu, real cutlery, juice and water run mid flight and the second hot item before landing. Other airlines should really pay attention here, because this is the right way to do it.

Service on board is exemplary. No matter when you make a request to the crew, they never forget about you and deliver what you’ve asked for reasonably promptly. Other airlines economy class crews forget you or don’t appear at all during flight, so Qatar crews are ahead of the bunch on training and service delivery.

I would not hesitate to fly economy class with this airline, it’s just very good. Have you flown Qatar Airways in economy class? What did you think? Thanks for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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The author travelled as a guest of Qatar Airways.

Featured image by Julian Herzog via Wikimedia Commons.