I used Tristar to pick us and drop off at Gatwick, which all worked fine. Qatar Airways must have one of the smallest check in areas at Gatwick and somewhat difficult to find. No queues so was checked in very efficiently and sent on our way to find the Continental Clubhouse, which they used. All very basic and wished that I could use the Clubhouse instead! The flight was called on time and they had an odd boarding procedure as business class was called last. They are using an airbus 330-200 and the business class cabin has 4 rows of seats, with 2-2-2 across. The seats are on the style of J2000 and go to about 160 degrees. In the back of the seat is one of the biggest flat screen I have every seen on an aircraft and they have an on demand entertainment system. Yes there were fresh flowers at the front of the cabin and large cushions on the seats!
The entertainment system was available as soon as we took off and we were handed their version of the sleep suit, which consists of a grey long sleeve polo shirt. The meal service commenced very quickly and there was a crew to passenger ratio of 1 to 4. The standard of food was excellent and for example the wine list was as follows.
Mumm Cordon Rouge Brut NV
Gravitas Sauvignon Blanc 2004
Cape Jaffa Chardonnay 2004
Chateau Lagrange 1998 3rd Classe St Julien
Colli Perugini Rosso DOC 2003
Mount Toolleen Ebenezer Shiraz 2002
The 7-hour flight passed by quickly and we made the decent into Doha. We had a very abrupt landing and taxi off in a different direction to the terminal. This I though was odd and we finally parked up at in the cargo handling area. This is where the problems start. The Captain informed us that there were no stands available to park at and we would have to wait 10 minutes for a stand to be available, which turned into 40 minutes. Finally at a parking stand, a separate bus took the business class passengers to the terminal. Here we were met with a very long line to go through security into the main terminal. Once through, the terminal itself was heaving with people and we tried to find our way to the business lounge. Next disappointment, we get into the lounge and it is standing room only and you cannot move around. We had to stand for the next hour until some seats became available. The only plus point was that it did have free wifi access.
After 2 hours our flight was called and we had to push our way to the gate. It the only airport I have been to, were they are showing on the display 3 flights departing from the same gate, which made checking in interesting. We then had to wait for the special business class bus to take us to the plane. This time it was a 320 with just 12 business seats. Again the food was excellent and we had the same wine list for me to work through. Hence the 4-hour flight quickly passed. We were the first off the plane and through a very efficient immigration at Male airport. Then to discover that only 50% of our luggage had arrived, with 2 bags missing. The thought of going off to a small island in the Indian Ocean with no luggage for Christmas was not a happy one. It turned out that my bag did a tour around the Middle East and turned up 2 days later. My daughters bag went to Bangkok and took 5 days to reach us.
The conclusion is that Qatar Airways have a long way to go before they can provide an airline that works. At the resort we heard many stories from fellow travellers who had had missing baggage and long delayed flights. So it would seem that at present their hub airport of Doha is a complete failure. They are claiming that they will be one of the first airlines to operate the 380, it s a shame that they will not have an airport to handle it. I would avoid Doha airport at all costs.
