December 9, 2016
Qatar Airways Doha (DOH) - Baku (GYD) - Tbilisi (TBS) Departure: 0708 Arrival: 1300 Duration: 4:58 Aircraft: Boeing A320-232
Registration: A7-AHB Seat: 3A (Business Class)
With 39 Airbus A320s, Qatar airways operates them to short and medium-haul routes, to both Middle-East and Europe. I heard the CEO wanted to add the new A320 NEOs to the fleet but due to the problem with performance of engines, the CEO cancelled some orders, instead changed to order A321NEOs.
Few weeks ago Qatar Airways has announced a non-stop route from Doha to Tbilisi but before that all flights had a one hour technical stop at Baku, Azerbaijan. I was traveling a week before the news and had a long 5 hours flight with a stop in between(The new non-stop flight is 3.5 hours only). There are two version of A320s Qatar is flying and one has 132 seats and the other 144 seats total. The business class with 165 degree recliner seats has 144 and the newer version has 8 less seats. Also both versions of business class cabin have 12 seats.
I was hoping to get the flat-bed seats but it turned out the on my inbound flight, which I took economy class, there was this new business seats. Having 2-2 configuration with both old and new seating, it was hard to compare on expertflyer's website.
The Cabin:
Its a typical two-class configured Airbus A320 cabin with 3 rows of business class seatings. The burgundy and white theme is only be seen in Qatar Airways. Because of retro feeling seats and the aircrafts age, the cabin feels little old compared to the other A320s they have fitted with lie-flat seats. It is just perfect for short-haul flights as the single aisle tend to be crowded with passengers and carts specially in economy section.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Cabin. (Photo Credits here)
The Seats:
I really wanted to try the lie-flat seat but it was not the right time and had to fly with this retro recliner seat on a long flight. As I mentioned above, the seat only reclines 165 degrees with leg rest that raised about 60 degrees. Each seat has 45 inches of pitch and 21 inches of width IFE available. But both tray table and IFE monitor stowed inside both armrest, it made the seat really packed. The seats are not direct aisle accessible so when both IFE and table is out either on C and D seats, there is less chance you can go out if you are seated in A or F.
Also there is a IFE box underneath the seat in front reducing the leg space. Nevertheless, comfortable pillows and blankets, charging sockets and headphones are provided to make everyone less bored.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Seat Row 3A,B.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Seat 3A.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Seat 3A.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Seat 3A.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Seat 3A: Armrest and IFE Monitor Stowed Underneath.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Seat 3A: Tray Table.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Seat 3A: Seat Adjustments Buttons.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Seat 3A: Reading Lights.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Seat 3A: IFE Sockets.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Seat Overhead.
In-flight Meals:
It was a morning flight so breakfast was served. On a three hours flight to Baku, two course meal was served which were not à la carte. Having some heavy meal at the lounge before flight, I had some smoothie and appetizer only. It was surprising for me to see different types of menus for a short flight and beverages too. The in-flight meals are always fresh and never been bored!
After arriving at Baku, we were offered some pre-departure drinks and later on a simple meal is served. It was so simple and small portion meal because the flight time was merely one hour crews had to hurry up.
Menu and Beverage Lists:
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Welcome Drink.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Smoothie.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Tray Table.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Tray Table.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class In-Flight Meals (Doha-Baku).
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class In-Flight Meal (Baku-Tbilisi).
In-flight Entertainments:
Although there is Oryx One in-flight entertainment available on this A320 flight, the contents in it was less compared to the ones on B777 and other wide-bodies. The IFE has a touch screen monitor which the remote controller was not, it was same as the ones on Korean Air's economy class. I am not sure about the size of the screen but it seems to be between 10 inch -12 inch compared to 15 inch on newer seats. Business class passengers receive noise cancelling headphones which is a good job but watching a movie feels uncomfortable with 10 inch screen. Instead, listening to music or staring at the flight path seems more suitable on these ones.😙
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class IFE Remote Controller.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class IFE Remote Controller.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class IFE Touch-Screen Monitor.
Lavatories:
There is only one lavatory behind the flight deck to be used by 12 business class passengers and two at the tail section for economy passengers. Being one of the best airlines in the world, compare to LCC's (Low-cost carrier) A320s, the lavatories were much more cleaner. Because everyone on board the business class were men, I guess the crew put quite a number or shaving kits and toothbrush kits inside. Hand soap, facial mist and hand lotion are by Rituals.
Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Lavatory.
Summary:
Getting the new business class seat is 50/50 chance and it is very hard to compare by looking at seat map unless you count the total number of economy class seat one by one. Recently, I found Qatar sends the lie-flat A320s to Helsinki and some other destinations and would like to try that out so bad.
First I would like to thank cabin service director Muhammad for this awesome flight and the rest of crew. It was a comfortable business class ride to Tbilisi although it took some time at Baku because one passenger deplaned went missing who was supposed to fly to final destination. But even during the wait time inside the aircraft, the cabin crew notified passengers about the delay every few minutes so that we know whats going on. Having different types of in-flight meal is also a plus I would like to give and also the quality and freshness of the food.
Only disappointing thing is the IFE and its contents. It would have been much better to stick the screen behind the seat instead of getting it out from the armrest. When other passenger is seated and his arm is over my armrest, it feels uncomfortable to move his/her arm to get that out especially when he/she is sleeping.
By trying out the 3 row business class, I think the best seats in the second row as the first row can be noise and bothersome from galley and lavatory while the last row is just behind the economy which is just divided with thin curtain and it is also noisy. Keep that in mind on your next flight in A320s!
Flying above Shiraz, Iran.
Heyder Aliyev International Airport, Baku, Azerbaijan.
IL76TD operated by Silk Way Airways.
Azerbaijan Airbus A430.