Flying home after the end of my summer holidays to Ireland once again took me via Doha. Unlike my earlier overnight to Manchester, my flight from Dublin to Doha was the afternoon QR 18 departure, giving me the chance to experience Qatar Airways’ excellent day time service in Economy Class on this seven hour’s flight.

Buying my tickets

I booked my tickets on the Malaysia Airlines website, which offered me slightly lower prices versus the Qatar Airways website. As both carriers are part of the Oneworld alliance, I earned Avios for both the Malaysia Airlines and Qatar Airways sectors.

Qatar Airways operates two flights a day from Dublin to Doha, and mine was the day’s second service between both cities.

Departure from Dublin Airport (Terminal 1)

Qatar Airways operates from Dublin Airport’s Terminal 1, the 1972-built facility that was Ireland’s most modern when it opened. The counters at row 5 were dedicated to the airline, and the lines for bag-drops weren’t very long when I arrived. To keep things moving, the sole business class check in counter proactively handled economy class passengers. This way, I got my bags checked in and boarding passes issued within 10 minutes, which was a great way to start the day.

The efficient operation extended to the security checks, which took me less than 10 minutes to clear. Once airside, though, I got face to face with the sheer passenger volume passing through the facility. The legacy design of the terminal was really showing its limit here especially in Pier B, the old decagon-shaped concourse hosting all of Terminal 1’s jetbridge gates.

The pier was serving several widebody aircraft simultaneously, and the Emirates B777 to Dubai started boarding while I waited. The boarding queue spilled out into the circulation space and the general area got very cramped. This is quite a contrast versus Terminal 1’s bright and modern Pier D, built in 2007 to host Ryanair’s flights. I’m not sure if DAA has expansion plans in place for Dublin, but it’s not very impressive when the same terminal offers vastly different passenger experiences for low cost carriers!

Boarding for my flight to Doha was done by rows, and I was able to board early thanks to my choice of seat to the rear of the wing. As only one airbridge was used, the boarding line turned into a long queue stretching from the aircraft door to the common waiting area.

Things were more pleasant once I was seated, and we departed some 8 minutes late into the cloudy skies over Ireland.

Onboard Cabin & Amenities

Qatar Airways equips its B787-9 in a 2-class configuration, with 30 flat beds in Business Class and 281 seats in Economy Class. Their B787-9s benefited from a refurbishment exercise that installed new seats. A7-BHL, the then 4 years old B787-9 operating this flight, was sporting the new cabin interiors.

Qatar Airways B787-9 Economy Class

Economy Class onboard Qatar Airway’s B787-9 are laid out in a standard 3-3-3 configuration. The seats are Recaro CL3710, also an industry standard for long-haul Economy cabins. These come with 31 inches of pitch, USB and AC charging sockets, and an adjustable headset. The pitch is pretty standard for long-haul Economy Class, and with my backpack in the overhead locker I could stretch my legs a little.

A pillow (with single use covers), and a plastic-wrapped blanket was already laid out at all seats prior to boarding. All in all, it was very much a standard Economy offering on a premium airline. As this was a day time flight, there were no amenity kits given out on this flight.

Oryx One Inflight Entertainment and Onboard Wi-Fi

All seats were equipped with the airline’s Oryx One IFE system. Qatar Airways has made a name for itself in both the quality and quantity of its IFE, and there was more content loaded than I needed for this 7 hour long flight.

I would compare Oryx One very favourably against rival Emirates’ ICE system. Between the two, though, Oryx One has a much nicer user interface.

There is also 1 hour of complimentary Wifi-onboard for Privilege Club members. This requires you to either sign up or log in through the onboard WiFi portal. I did a speed test and download speeds clocked 10.41mbps. Not bad indeed.

Onboard Catering

Two meal services – Lunch and Snacks – were served onboard this flight. A nifty feature that Qatar Airways offers on their app is the ability to view the menu before departure. For some odd reason, though, every entry on the menu was duplicated.

The crew served pre-Lunch snacks on this flight, consisting of Penn State Sour Cream & Chive pretzels and a choice of soft drinks. Nothing too fancy, but good enough to keep the passengers happy while they waited for Lunch.

Qatar Airways DUB-DOH Lunch service

Lunch service commenced about 2 hours after takeoff, with a choice of either Chicken Cacciatore with Parmesan Polenta, Irish Beef Stew, or Asparagus and Ricotta Ravioli with Creamy Tomato Ragout. All options came with appetisers of wild rice salad with basil and black olives, “infused bread” as a side, and a lemon cheesecake for dessert.

I wanted something hearty so I opted for the Irish beef stew. I’m happy to report that it was pretty good, especially because the beef wasn’t dry in the way inflight beef tends to do. The bread provided was also a good way to wipe up the leftover stew. In fact, this was probably one of the best Economy inflight meals I’ve had!

For drinks, I went with the 2023 Cape Dream Sauvignon Blanc, which retails for £8.78. Make what you will of the price – I found it to be quite light and easy to drink.

Qatar Airways DUB-DOH Snack service

A pre-landing Snack service was done 2 hours before landing, consisting of a choice between meat-based or vegetarian pastries supplied by UK-based Monty’s Bakehouse.

I went for the chicken fajita pastry, and found it tasting fresh and not soggy. I also quite liked the design of the box, which lets you hold the pastry without actually touching it and getting your hands oily.

Arrival at Doha Hamad International Airport

We made up lost time in the air, and managed an arrival at DOH some 14 minutes early. The approach path was spectacular as it took us over the brightly lit Doha urban area, with an overview of DOH, Al Dafna, the Corniche, and old Doha in the south.

In what has unfortunately become commonplace at DOH, our aircraft parked at a remote stand, and we all trooped out of the cool cabin into the Qatari desert heat.

I like boarding and disembarking planes by stairs, but it clashed with DOH’s award-winning, premium image that it’d built for itself.

Final Thoughts

This was an excellent flight and it was easily one of the best Economy Class experiences I’ve had – Proving (to no one’s surprise) that Qatar Airways is a solid choice at the back of the airplane.