Review: Qatar Airways A340 Business Class Colombo to Doha

Introduction: The Long Road to Boston
Review: Malindo Air Economy Boeing 737-800 Singapore to Kuala Lumpur to Colombo
Review: Plaza Premium Lounge in KLIA
Review: Araliya Lounge Colombo Bandaranaike Airport
Review: Qatar Airways A340 Business Class Colombo to Doha
Review: Al Mourjan Business Lounge Doha International Airport
Review: Qatar Airways A350 Business Class Doha to Boston

Qatar Airways QR669
Colombo (CMB) – Doha (DOH)
Monday, 6 February
Depart: 0240 hrs
Arrive: 0610 hrs
Duration: 3 hours 30 minutes
Aircraft: AirbusA340-600
Seat: 3E

By this time in my trip, I was so ready to sink into the comfort of my business class seat and be pampered silly.

View of Qatar Airways A340-600 from the boarding area

Before that, though, I had to go through another round of security checks at the boarding gate (no priority lane for business class passengers here), and also contend with the crowds at the boarding area.

Crowded boarding gate

Qatar Airway’s A340 business class is arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration with forward-facing lie-flat seats, which were comfortable enough but made for some awkward moments with my seat mate.

I don’t have a picture of the cabin or the seat, but this picture from One Mile at a Time should give you an idea of how it looks like.

Photo credit: One Mile at a Time

The cabin was awash in Qatar’s signature purplish/blueish mood lighting, which gave the cabin a warm, welcoming and relaxed atmosphere.

Within moments of settling down, I was offered a welcome drink, and I chose Qatar’s signature lime and mint drink, which was refreshing.

Qatar Airways’ lime and mint welcome drink and hot towel

A large pillow and blanket was already at my seat, and a bottle of water could be found in the small storage compartment under the armrest.

Bottle of water underneath the armrest

I wasn’t offered an amenity kit as this was a short regional flight, but instead received a beautiful pouch containing a pair of socks and ear plugs.

Beautiful pouch containing a pair of socks and ear plugs

The noise-cancelling headphones provided were of decent quality, but the IFE screen was so far away that I had to put on my glasses in order to watch my inflight movie #firstworldproblem. This would attest to the amount of legroom one gets on this seat.

Noise-cancelling headphones

Qatar Airways offers dine-on-demand service on business class, and I chose to have my meal right before landing.

This is the food and beverage menu for those of you interested:

Dead tired by this point, I reclined my seat into the lie-flat position and proceeded to catch some inflight movies while lulling myself to sleep.

Now comes the awkward part. Because the seats are arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration with the seat pairs angling towards each other, and the seat pairs actually sharing the footrest with a small divider, I was actually playing footsie with my seat mate for parts of the flight.

Imagine falling asleep and suddenly feeling someone else’s feet touching your own. Yup, awkward~

I was woken up by the sound of clanging cutlery and the smell of breakfast, and my tray table was quickly made.

I opted for yoghurt with berry compote, toasted granola and nuts, as well as the blueberry pancakes. I also had a cup of delicious spiced chai tea with saffron.

Yoghurt with berry compote, toasted granola and nuts

Blueberry pancakes with vanilla custard sauce, caramelized banana and stewed fruits

Breakfast was delicious, but because I woke up so close to landing, I did not have the luxury of time to fully enjoy it. The FA had to very politely rush me through my breakfast as they were preparing to land.

All in all, this was a very pleasant ~5-hour flight in flat-bed comfort, with warm, sincere service and delicious food. I just wish this was in a 1-2-1 configuration instead, or at least have the foot cubbies facing away from each other instead of being placed together.