Qatar Airways
Doha - London Heathrow

14 March 2025
17:25-22:00

After a few days of intense walking and daytime hunger, I was thoroughly satisfied with exploring Doha and its many changes since my last trip in 2017. They've added a lot of new attractions and world class museums and I think it's worthwhile to come here on its own rather than transit through quickly. There isn't as much to do as Dubai yet, but definitely worth at least an overnight to break up a long journey.

Hamad airport is barely half an hour from West Bay. Doha's metro is among the cheapest I've ridden in a wealthy country. Each ride is only 2 riyals, and there is no surcharge to reach the airport. A day pass costs only 6.

However, taking the myetro would yield yet another surprise. I had purchased a smart card for my trip since their fare gates don't take contactless. I loaded 20 riyals, which would be just right for 3 days of unlimited rides and the initial ride from the airport into town. By the time I was ready to head to the airport, I had 2 riyals left on the card, but couldn't get past the gate. The staff explained even though the final fare is 2 rials and I had enough on the card, the gate won't allow a card's residual value to drop to 0. This was quite strange because in other cities, I could even go negative given I had paid a deposit for the card, which costed 10 riyals here. There is no way I could take a ride that would wipe out the cost of the card.

After fumbling a bit to load a further 10 riyals, I was on the way to the airport.

Having complained when I arrived how long a walk it is from the station to the terminal itself, I took it easy and added a few stops to explore what is there to see along the way. Still, it's annoying to lug my bag through 2 long moving walkways and an escalator up to the check-in area.

This airport's architecture is quite sleek and doesn't feel crowded as most people are transiting and never make it outside the restricted area. The departures area is roomy and beautiful. Luckily, I was flying with a light hand-carry only today and there was barely a line to check in. 90 minutes before departure, I was all set to head to London, although I noticed on the boarding pass that boarding begins an hour before departure, so I didn't have much time to explore.

Security and immigration went smoothly. I exited the formalities into a shopping mall with the famous bear, now with an additional tag to celebrate the aiirport's 10th birthday. There are so many shops and restaurants here to keep a long transit enjoyable. I've seen some of these in London such as Yo Sushi and Comptoir Libanais.

While most shops and restaurants in Doha were shut during Ramadan until sunset, it was business as usual air-side. I initially had quite a lot of difficulty finding food during the day in the city as even convenience stores at metro stations were shut and only saw a very scarce few restaurants kept open for take-out only in West Bay.

This airport is quite big with many piers. I was looking for the Singapore Jewel-looking section, but didn't have enough time in the end to venture so far. Instead, I hovered around the shops near my gate to see what local specialties they've got. There were plenty of dates on offer, a customary welcome treat across this part of the world. Meanwhile, plane spotting was so-so as this is really a Qatar Airways hub.

There was a huge crowd around my A-gate already and they were starting to board zone 1 - the back of the plane.

Today's 777 has a huge Economy cabin with almost 400 seats in a high-density configuration. There are 3 big sections and I was right at the back. It was a busy flight but not totally full and I managed to have an empty middle seat, which the aisle passenger quickly and greedily splashed his stuff over thinking he owns the plane.

I quickly browsed the IFE system, which is quite a lot better than BA's offering with a decent amount of international content, including a Hong Kong show. The headphones are a little better than BA's disposable ones from the discount store.

We managed to push back a few minutes early at 5:20pm and quickly taxied into position for take-off 15 minutes later. Unfortunately, I could only get a right window seat, which was pretty much sea-view into the sunset as the city was off to the left although there were some quick views of the skyline as we left the gate.

I connected to the wifi quickly, which is free to use for all passengers with no limits. It's not messaging only like on BA for Executive Club members. On Qatar, I could message, browse social media, and surf the net at incredible speeds. The crew announcement noted this is a free Starlink service.

It took quite some time for the initial snack and drink run to reach me. Dinner arrived about an hour and a half after take-off and I picked a delicious beef chili con carne rice that was not spicy. There was also a side salad and creamy dessert with apple sauce on the bottom as well as a roll. I was quite satisfied with both the portion and taste.

After dinner, I explored the lavatory. Despite the fairly full plane, there was never a line snaking out back. Amenities were simple but it was kept clean. The crew also laid out various drinks in the back galley, and I helped myself to a concentrated mango juice.

Meanwhile, the weather was good outside and the views were just as nice as the inbound into Doha.

A second lighter snack was served before landing. I picked the chicken pastry which was decent and tasted better than the BA equivalent.

The flight went on uneventfully and we landed at Heathrow at 9:47pm. We weren't in holding pattern at all and managed a fairly good airspeed throughout the flight. We finally parked at Terminal 4 at 10pm and I waited patiently as the huge Economy cabins ahead of me emptied out.

This is an older terminal but I was happy the walk to immigration didn't take long. I don't recall when was the last time I used T4 given I typically fly BA, Cathay Pacific, or a Star Alliance carrier out of here, so it's usually T2, 3, or 5. It's a decent facility but nothing special or spectacular.

There was only a short line for immigration and with hand-carry only, I exited land-side 35 minutes after gate arrival. I perched up to see the screens and apparently we were the last arrival of the day at this terminal!

Qatar is one of the better airlines with a solid IFE, good meals, and a comfortable seat with decent legroom. They're definitely a long way ahead of BA and with 7 flights a day to Heathrow compared to BA's lone daily flight, I'll lean towards flying with them again.