Trip to Kathmandu flying on Etihad A380 First Apartment and Qatar Airways A380 First Class
Last month, Mike and I traveled to Kathmandu, Nepal for the first time to meet our travel partner Helena, owner of Helena India Travels. We are sending our first group to Nepal in autumn and it was a great opportunity to meet her as well as the owners of the hotels where our group would be staying at. We were offered complimentary five nights stay by Mingma, the Nepalese owner of Chhahari Retreat and needless to say, we enjoyed every single day of our stay not only because of the nice room and excellent food in the restaurant but more so because each one of them treated us like their own family. As for our flight, Mike and I used our remaining American Airlines Advantage miles to fly in first class from Europe to the Indian Sub continent, just before the devaluation in March, which is 80K miles return per person. Here's the full trip report of our trip to Nepal and I hope that thru this, more people would consider traveling to this wonderful country in the future!
Review: British Airways Business Class, Stockholm-London
Review: Etihad A380 First Apartment, London-Abu Dhabi
Review: Al Dhabi Lounge, T1 Abu Dhabi Airport (AUH)
Review: Qatar Airways First Class, Abu Dhabi-Doha
Review: Qatar Airways Business Class, Doha-Kathmandu
Review: Chhahari Resort, Kathmandu
Review: Yeti Airlines to the Himalayas
Top Attractions in Nepal
Review: Executive Lounge, Kathmandu International Airport (KTM)
Review: Qatar Airways Business Class, Kathmandu-Doha
Review: Qatar Airways A380 First Class, Doha-Paris
Review: Hilton Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
Review: Cathay Pacific First & Business Class Lounge, T2 (CDG)
Review: British Airways Business Class, Paris-London
Review: Hilton London Heathrow Airport
Review: British Airways Business Class, London-Stockholm
Qatar Airways First Class meal, Abu Dhabi to Doha
Flight: QR 1041
Departure time in Abu Dhabi: 5:50 (actual 5:54)
Arrival time in Doha: 6:00 (actual 6:15)
Equipment: Airbus A320-100
Seat: 3A
Duration: 1h 21m
Date of flight: May 26, 2016
*This is an award travel, Business Class flight #102
Transferring at Abu Dhabi Airport
We did not get our boarding pass on Qatar Airways at London Heathrow so after arriving at Abu Dhabi International Airport, we headed directly to the transfer desk being used by Qatar Airways. We were helped by a nice young agent from the Philippines and after getting our boarding passes, received a lounge invitation as well. It is interesting to note that Qatar Airways sells the highest class in the cabin as first class although this is actually just business class since there are only two classes on this flight.
Qatar Airways lounge invitation
Al Dhabi Lounge
We spent a few hours at the Al Dhabi Lounge and decided to head to the gate about an hour before the flights departure.
Gate 9, Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH)
Gate 9, Abu Dhabi International Airport
Boarding was called shortly after we arrived, around 5:05am at Gate 9. Unfortunately there was no priority boarding so premium passengers and those with status had to wait until those who came in the queue first have boarded.
As I entered the aircraft, I was greeted by one of the flight attendants and directed to my seat.
Seat, 3A
My seat, 3A was a window.
The cabin has a 2-2 configuration, from rows 1-3, and that early morning flight, 10 of the 12 seats were occupied.
Entertainment controls located to the right of the seat.
Located on the left side of the seat are seat controls.
Spacious legroom
Monitor
Inflight magazines, Duty Free magazine and safety card.
There was also a magazine rack located behind the business class cabin.
From my seat, I caught site of an Egypt Air aircraft.
Moments after settling in, the young flight attendant from South Korea came to offer the menu card and ask for our pre-departure beverages as well as our choice of towel. I decided to have a glass of still water and a hot towel. Mike on the other hand had some orange juice.
Pre-departure beverage and towel
The usual Arabic coffee was also offered and I could not resist it so I ended up having a cup that was served with a packaged date. Our breakfast order was also taken and I chose a glass of smoothie, fruits and tart. The captain also came to the PA to welcome us and advise us of our flight time of just 35 minutes.
Arabic coffee and date
Around 5:55am, we started our pushback.
View of the Philippine Airlines aircraft during taxi.
View minutes after take off
Dining
For a very short flight, getting such a meal is always impressive and as always, I salute the crew on these routes for being able to give excellent service on such a limited time. The food tasted great specially the pie and the bread.
View of the cabin after the meal service.
Lavatory and Toilet
The lavatory was clean and nicely decorated with some roses.
There were also skin care products from Rituals.
Arrival at Hamad International Airport
We landed at Hamad International Airport at 6:10am, a few minutes behind schedule.
We parked in a remote stand although as business class passengers, we had our own bus which drove us to the terminal a bit faster than those flying in economy class. I also caught site of the Al Maha Airways aircraft which is green in color and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qatar Airways, thus the logo.
Al Mourjan Lounge, Doha Airport
We had more than 2 hours before our connecting flight to Kathmandu so we headed directly to the stunning Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Lounge to check on our emails.
Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Lounge, Doha Airport
CONCLUSION
This was again one of those great flights I've had on Qatar Airways flying intra-Gulf. The service was very efficient for such a short flight and the food tasted great. The seats were also very comfortable. The only thing I hoped they had was the priority boarding at Abu Dhabi International Airport since it is one of those things I really appreciate as a business class passenger. Overall, this is a very nice flight. To all the crew on this flight, Shukran!
Related Posts:
Qatar Airways First Class, Dubai to Doha
Qatar Airways First Class, Muscat to Doha
Last month, Mike and I traveled to Kathmandu, Nepal for the first time to meet our travel partner Helena, owner of Helena India Travels. We are sending our first group to Nepal in autumn and it was a great opportunity to meet her as well as the owners of the hotels where our group would be staying at. We were offered complimentary five nights stay by Mingma, the Nepalese owner of Chhahari Retreat and needless to say, we enjoyed every single day of our stay not only because of the nice room and excellent food in the restaurant but more so because each one of them treated us like their own family. As for our flight, Mike and I used our remaining American Airlines Advantage miles to fly in first class from Europe to the Indian Sub continent, just before the devaluation in March, which is 80K miles return per person. Here's the full trip report of our trip to Nepal and I hope that thru this, more people would consider traveling to this wonderful country in the future!
Review: British Airways Business Class, Stockholm-London
Review: Etihad A380 First Apartment, London-Abu Dhabi
Review: Al Dhabi Lounge, T1 Abu Dhabi Airport (AUH)
Review: Qatar Airways First Class, Abu Dhabi-Doha
Review: Qatar Airways Business Class, Doha-Kathmandu
Review: Chhahari Resort, Kathmandu
Review: Yeti Airlines to the Himalayas
Top Attractions in Nepal
Review: Executive Lounge, Kathmandu International Airport (KTM)
Review: Qatar Airways Business Class, Kathmandu-Doha
Review: Qatar Airways A380 First Class, Doha-Paris
Review: Hilton Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
Review: Cathay Pacific First & Business Class Lounge, T2 (CDG)
Review: British Airways Business Class, Paris-London
Review: Hilton London Heathrow Airport
Review: British Airways Business Class, London-Stockholm
Flight: QR 1041
Departure time in Abu Dhabi: 5:50 (actual 5:54)
Arrival time in Doha: 6:00 (actual 6:15)
Equipment: Airbus A320-100
Seat: 3A
Duration: 1h 21m
Date of flight: May 26, 2016
*This is an award travel, Business Class flight #102
Transferring at Abu Dhabi Airport
We did not get our boarding pass on Qatar Airways at London Heathrow so after arriving at Abu Dhabi International Airport, we headed directly to the transfer desk being used by Qatar Airways. We were helped by a nice young agent from the Philippines and after getting our boarding passes, received a lounge invitation as well. It is interesting to note that Qatar Airways sells the highest class in the cabin as first class although this is actually just business class since there are only two classes on this flight.
Al Dhabi Lounge
Boarding was called shortly after we arrived, around 5:05am at Gate 9. Unfortunately there was no priority boarding so premium passengers and those with status had to wait until those who came in the queue first have boarded.
As I entered the aircraft, I was greeted by one of the flight attendants and directed to my seat.
Seat, 3A
The cabin has a 2-2 configuration, from rows 1-3, and that early morning flight, 10 of the 12 seats were occupied.
Moments after settling in, the young flight attendant from South Korea came to offer the menu card and ask for our pre-departure beverages as well as our choice of towel. I decided to have a glass of still water and a hot towel. Mike on the other hand had some orange juice.
Around 5:55am, we started our pushback.
Dining
Lavatory and Toilet
Arrival at Hamad International Airport
Al Mourjan Lounge, Doha Airport
CONCLUSION
This was again one of those great flights I've had on Qatar Airways flying intra-Gulf. The service was very efficient for such a short flight and the food tasted great. The seats were also very comfortable. The only thing I hoped they had was the priority boarding at Abu Dhabi International Airport since it is one of those things I really appreciate as a business class passenger. Overall, this is a very nice flight. To all the crew on this flight, Shukran!
Related Posts:
Qatar Airways First Class, Dubai to Doha
Qatar Airways First Class, Muscat to Doha
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