Review: Qatar Airways A350 Business Class, Frankfurt-Doha

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Qatar Airways Airbus A350X business class seat

Flight: QR70
Departure time in Frankfurt: 10:45
Arrival time in Doha: 18:40
Equipment: Airbus A350-900
Flight duration: 5h 55m
Date of flight: March 22, 2015
Seat: 2A
*This is an award travel, Business class flight #75

Qatar Airways check in counters at Frankfurt Airport Terminal 1


Check-in, Desk 542

I was helped by a friendly agent with the check in process and having no checked baggage, I was on my way to the security control in no time at all although unfortunately, they had no fast track service so I really hurried my way to the boarding gate.


Airbus A350-900

Our ride to Doha 😍

Boarding, Gate B45

Boarding started at 9:45 at gate B45.

"Premium passengers, this way please."

Welcome aboard Qatar Airways Airbus A350-900 👍


Cabin

Qatar Airways business class cabin on the A350.


Seat, 2A

Welcome to my seat!

My seat is on the main business class cabin with a total of 24 seats on a 1-2-1 configuration.

Qatar Airways A350 business class, personal screen

Qatar Airways A350 business class, entertainment control

Qatar Airways A350 business class, entertainment control and headphones

Qatar Airways A350 business class, seat controls

Qatar Airways A350 business class, ottoman

Qatar Airways A350 business class, power outlet

Qatar Airways A350 business class overhead lamp, seat belt sign and "No Smoking" sign with texts scrolling along the top of them.

Qatar Airways A350 business class, window blinds

View of the cabin from my seat.

Qatar Airways A350 business class, magazine rack, reading lamp and amenity kit.

Qatar Airways A350 business class, inflight magazine, duty free catalogue, etc.

Qatar Airways A350 business class, safety on board card

Qatar Airways A350 business class, blanket

Qatar Airways A350 business class, storage for the bottle of water and headphone located on the right side of the seat.

As the amenity kit was already on my seat, I decided to see what the contents were. It featured Giorgio Armani's Acqua di Gio aftershave balm and Acqua di Gio perfume, socks, eye shades and earplugs.

There was also wifi service provided by On Air but I did not try it since I wanted to concentrate more on the flight itself.

As for my pre-departure beverage, I decided to have a glass of rosé champagne which was served together with a hot towel. Afterwards, the inflight supervisor, Gianini (which is also from the Philippines) came to my seat and welcomed me on this morning flight to Doha. There was also an announcement made later asking the passengers to return to their original seats for the weight and balance check of the aircraft.

As the wine list and menu card were already on my seat, I decided to have a look and see which wines were being served.

Qatar Airways A350 business class, white champagne (Billecart Salmon) and rosé champagne (Pol Roger).

Qatar Airways A350 business class, chardonnay (Meursault) and Saint Clair. The other wines included Frits Haag, Cantenac Brown, Syrah Bellingham, Villa Maria and Chateau de Fesles. There was also Kopke port wine being served on board.

The cocktails and spirits selection.

Qatar Airways A350 business class menu

Qatar Airways A350 business class menu

Qatar Airways A350 business class, beverage menu

The tail camera gave a nice view of the aircraft at Frankfurt airport. A few minutes later, the lovely flight attendant from Malaysia working on my side of the cabin took the drinks and meal orders before take off.

As soon as I was finished with my meal orders, I went to the back of the cabin to have a look of the bar, as well as the smaller business class cabin consisting of 12 more seats making the total business class seats on the A350 to 36, 28 of which were occupied.


Dining

Once we were airborne, the crew started serving the drinks (I had apple juice) and the Palate Pleaser "Goats Cheese Mousse served with grilled asparagus" which tasted excellent.

Table setting with bread, butter and my choice of appetizer, the smoked salmon rillettes. The other choice for appetizer was the Classic Arabic Mezzeh.

Smoked salmon rillettes with cucumber, sun blushed tomato asparagus and crostini

Fillet of beef with a mushroom and paprika cream sauce, mustard mashed potato, roasted carrots and balsamic pearl onions

The other choices were Broccolini and blue cheese tart and Lemon and Garlic Marinated Chicken Breast with Oriental Rice and toasted nuts.

To end the meal, I had some Seasonal fresh fruits which tasted good except for the slices of mangoes which could have been more ripe. The other choices were Vanilla poached pear with panna cotta and Gourmet Ice cream.


Business Class Onboard Bar

Qatar Airways business class bar on the A350

View of the main business class cabin from the bar, with the blinds closed and some mood lights making the cabin look more beautiful.

Returning to my seat, I found the cup of green tea waiting for me as well as Godiva chocolates. 

This is definitely one of the most beautiful curtains I've seen as the color is just perfect matching the cabin and the material used which is really thick.

While all the other passengers were resting and watching their favorite films, I was busy having a look at the bar, this time with all the snacks and fruits.


Lavatory

I also decided to check out the lavatory located between the two cabins. It was spacious compared to most of the lavatories I've seen and definitely one of the most beautiful lavatories there is.

There were also the usual toothbrush and toothpaste combo ...

... and the body mist and hand lotion from Rituals.

Qatar Airways A350 business class toilet

About an hour before landing, the cabin attendants offered something to drink but I declined. The captain also came on the PA and announced our new arrival time of 6:58 making our flight almost 20 minutes delayed. Nevertheless, landing went smoothly and I was one of the first passengers to disembark.

CONCLUSION

Booking a flight on the Airbus A350 in business class is definitely one of the dreams of most aviation geeks out there. This is because this is the newest and most modern aircraft in the world. Qatar Airways is the only airline operating this aircraft (they started in January) and the only route is between Doha and Frankfurt, the exact reason why I had to fly to Frankfurt from Stockholm via Helsinki 😉 I would say that the service was really impressive although still not in par with that of Japan Airlines or Asiana. The food tasted very good and the drinks selection is probably one of the best there is. One thing I was expecting though (upon reading a blogger's review of the inaugural flight) was that they would offer pajamas and do the turn down service since after the meal, they dimmed the lights and closed the blinds which is more or less comparable to a night flight. Well, neither of the two was offered although I would understand them since most if not all airlines are not doing it either specially on a flight under 6 hours. The best part of this flight though was being able to see how spacious the cabin is and feel the difference when you compare it to most other aircraft. Of course, the food and service are both outstanding and I wouldn't hesitate flying with Qatar Airways again and again. To all the crew on this flight, "Shukran" 😍