September 22nd, 2016
Qatar Airways 831 Bangkok (BKK) - Doha (DOH) Departure: 0953 Arrival: 1154 Duration: 6:01 Aircraft: Airbus A380-861
Registration: A7-APB Seat: 30J (Upper Deck Economy Class)
After the first test flight on April 2014, Qatar Airways' first Airbus A380 was received on the following fall and now it is primarily servicing to Europe, Australia and Asia. It has six A380s currently with 7 more coming soon. My flight registered as A7-APB was the second A380 delivered to Qatar Airways and entered service as Doha(DOH) - London(LHR).
In this 3 cabin configurationt, there are total of 517 seats - 405 in main-deck Economy class, 56 more on upper-deck Economy class, 48 Business Class and 8 First Class. Economy Class are in 3-4-3 layout on the lower side while it is 2-4-2 on the upper cabin which feels a little less crowded. Both Business Class and First Class seats have 1-2-1 direct aisle seats.
To board the upper-deck Economy Class, you will have to pass all the way to the aft stairs and take a seat. All Economy are standard, has 32 inches of pitch and 18.5 inches of width with exit row and bulkhead seats having more legroom. I guess Most of the A380s have similar pitch and width length.
*On this flight, due to not sleeping the previous night, I was in a deep sleep, missing all the meals. There would not be any review on the economy meals on this flight. But it is similar to the ones I had on LAX-DOH economy class so please take a note of that.*
The Cabin:
The upper-deck cabin is smaller than on the lower-deck but there are only 8 seats per row instead of 10 and the exit row space is especially huge. Maybe because large number of passenger must evacuate when on emergency. Also the overhead storage bin is much much smaller. My carry-on bag fits on the main-deck overhead storage bin but on the upper side, I had to leave my baggage to the cabin crew in which she placed it inside a storage space by the galley.
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck Economy Class Cabin.
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck Economy Class Cabin: Exit row seat with humongous forward space.
The Seats:
Qatar Airways installed pretty ergonomic seats in Economy Class. The slim design offers more recline and legrooms. There are also large storage spaces by the window. For the exit row/bulkhead seats, the remote controller are docked by the armrest while other seats have it below the IFE monitor.
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck Economy Class Exit Row Seats.
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck Economy Class Seats: Row 31
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck Economy Class Exit Row Seats: Row 31 window seats.
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck Economy Class Exit Row Jump seat.
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck Economy Class Seat: Tray Table.
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck Economy Class Seats: Head cushion/Headrest.
In-Flight Entertainment:
The In-flight entertainment is developed by Thales and Qatar Airways uses their signature Oryx One as IFE systems. Only the newer aircrafts i.e. B787 and A350s has a touch screen remote controller on economy class seats. The rest are exactly the same with other fleets including its content and design so I have not much to talk about it for now.
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck IFE.
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck IFE Touch screen Remote controller.
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck IFE Touch screen monitor.
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck IFE: Headphone and USB port.
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck IFE: 110VAC power socket under each seat.
Lavatories:
On the upper-deck economy class, there are two lavatories situated by the gallery one on each aisle. By the size of the A380, even the economy lavatories feels larger than usual. There is also an air vent installed on the facial tissue box on the top right side and a 110V socket. Overall, with simple design luxurious design even in the economy class lavs - kudos! Like what is on the Korean Air first class lavs, there is a lighting around the borders of the mirror.
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck Economy Class Lavatory.
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck Economy Class Lavatory: Sensor activated water faucet.
Qatar Airways A380 Upper-Deck Economy Class Lavatory: Facial tissue box, facial mist and air vent.
Summary:
Ahead of this flight, I had few overnight connection that led me to Bangkok and I was extremely exhausted. Hence, I was not able to experience much on this aircraft in terms of services and in-flight meals. But for 6 hours flight on a super jumbo, I had a pleasant flight to Doha. I am not sure why Qatar Airways decided to fly A380 to Bangkok since there are 4 flights per day currently going in and out. They have Boing 777s servicing on this routes.
Having 2-4-2 configuration on the upper side is like your are either on A330s or A340s. It was much better to have 2 strangers sitting than 3 strangers sitting with much easier access to the aisles. The seats reclined a lot making less fatigue on my back and the enormous leg room I had was the best. It is only the overhead storage which was really small to fit normal size carry on bags with wheels. I would love to try out the premium production someday with in-flight bars and much more.