Mar 30, 2003 11:23 PM
8198 Views
(Updated Mar 30, 2003 11:52 PM)
Gulf Air has recently been displaced as Qatar's national airline by one which bears its own name.
In the last few years, this airline has grown from being a regional operator to one of the big players on the international scene. It operates a fleet of Airbuses (A330, A300 and A320) from its base in Doha, linking the Middle East with destinations in Europe, North Africa, South Asia and the Far East. Their aircraft have a distinctive appearance in a two tone blue livery with an onyx on the tail, which is the corporate logo....makes a change from the boring white that most aircraft are painted.
Having flown the airline recently from London to Dubai, I was impressed with the service (I had not heard of them before, so I did not expect much!! ). The planes are relatively new, seats comfortable with a decent inflight entertainment system. Food however was average, although alcohol was served on board which is always a bonus when flying a Middle eastern airline. Crew are curteous and efficient and hail from countries other than Qatar. The best reason to fly the airline is price, much cheaper than the next fare by miles...I mean air miles !! (bad joke !!)
The downside...well Doha Airport is not the most interesting airport to have a transit stop with very rude and abrupt staff . Duty Free is limited and not a patch on Dubai Airport's shopping facilities.
To sum it up, Qatar Airways is an average airline , not a BELOW average airline like Air India (sorry to AI fans!) but certainly not an ABOVE average airline like Emirates or Cathay Pacific. The airline is expanding its network at a phenomenal pace, so you can be sure you haven't heard the last of them. A more impressive airport is being planned at Doha...so things look likely to improve on that front.
Will I fly this airline again ??.......an emphatic YES.......as long as they have the lowest fares !!
