As autumn settled over Europe, the days were getting shorter, the temperatures were dropping, and the prospect of another few months of grey skies was becoming increasingly unappealing. Naturally, we decided the best solution was to leave. Our Qatar Airways Business Class Copenhagen to Doha flight was the first leg of our escape to Thailand’s Similan Islands, which had just reopened for the diving season. With a week of sunshine, warm seas and scuba diving ahead of us, getting there was the first part of the adventure.
We’d chosen Qatar Airways for the journey, flying from Copenhagen to Doha before connecting onwards to Phuket. It had been a while since we’d last flown Qatar, and with the airline offering several different Business Class seats across its fleet, we were curious to see whether it was still as good as we remembered.
As it turns out, the journey reminded us of a few things. First, don’t assume you’re getting Qsuite just because you’ve booked Qatar Airways Business Class. Second, there’s quite a difference between its newest suites and some of the older seats still flying around the network. And third, even when you think you know what you’re getting, Qatar Airways can still surprise you.
We’ll be exploring those differences, along with whether we’d book Qatar Airways again, in our upcoming reviews. But first, let’s start with our flight from Copenhagen to Doha aboard the Boeing 787-9, featuring the Adient Ascent Business Class suite.
In this review
Flight Details
Flight No: QR160
From/To: Copenhagen (CPH) to Doha (DOH)
Departure time: 14:55
Ticket Class: Business
Flight time: 6 hours 9 mins
Aircraft: A7-BHJ
Aircraft type: Boeing 787-9
Number of classes: 2
Number of seats in flying class: 30
Seat: 3A
Position: Window
Airport Experience
Copenhagen Airport makes a good first impression, with its modern Scandinavian design, plenty of shops and restaurants, and generally pleasant atmosphere. However, navigating the terminal isn’t quite as straightforward as it first appears. The gate numbering and layout can be confusing, and reaching the non-Schengen gates means passing through passport control, where queues can be lengthy, particularly with the EU’s new Entry/Exit System being introduced. Allow more time.
As Qatar Airways Business Class passengers, we had access to the recently refurbished Pearl Lounge in Pier C. It’s a decent space with lovely runway views, although the food and drink offering was fairly ordinary. Perfectly adequate for a short visit, but nothing worth arriving early for. You can read our full Pearl Lounge Copenhagen Airport review for more details.
Boarding & Welcome
The screens said boarding, which turned out to be optimistic. We arrived at the gate and were herded into a holding pen with limited seating, although there was at least a toilet inside. We waited 25 minutes before boarding was called. There was already a crowd at the gate, so what followed was a bit of a scrum, with everyone converging at once. The inbound aircraft had arrived late, so better communication would have saved everyone the standing around.
Once through, the walk down the jet bridge was quick. Local regulations mean no champagne on the ground, so soft drinks were offered instead.
Seat
One of the biggest questions about flying Qatar Airways Business Class Copenhagen to Doha is whether the Boeing 787-9’s Adient Ascent suite is a worthy alternative to Qsuite. Having spent six hours in seat 3A, I had mixed feelings.
Seat 3A is a suite with a door, and Qatar has done a good job fitting a private product into a narrower cabin. Pitch is 50 inches and width is 22 inches, which sounds generous until you live in it. In practice the suite felt tight, with limited storage and a seat surface that was slightly scratchy. It is a good seat rather than a great one.
Vertical wireless charging was a nice idea, badly executed. My iPhone would not hold a connection for more than a minute, and the drop-outs drained the battery faster than the pad could fill it. The only wired option was a single low-power USB-A socket. Most cables are USB-C now, so this needs a retrofit rather than a wait for the next refresh. Apart from the vanity unit, there’s not much storage around the seat.
A small tray table, covered with a tablecloth, made the edges hard to judge, and I nearly sent a glass of wine over the side. Fiddly too was the three-point seatbelt, an irritation every time I shifted position. Personally, I also think the material used for the seats felt scratchy.
What is the best seat on Qatar Airways 787 Business Class?
Mid-cabin is where you want to be. Anything from row 2 to row 6 gives you distance from the galley at the front and the two toilets at the rear. Row 3 worked well for us, and these are the most private window suites in the cabin.
Tip: avoid the window seats in row 5, because there is no window there. Row 1 is the one to skip if you want quiet, as it sits directly in front of the galley with curtain movement and crew traffic alongside you. Food service starts from the front, so sitting forward does mean you eat sooner, which is worth weighing if you want to sleep early on a daytime sector.
See the seating plan on AeroLOPA.
Onboard Experience
There is one toilet at the front and two at the rear, which is adequate for the amount of passengers and meant no real queuing. No pyjamas were handed out, fair enough on a six-hour daytime flight, though it does chip away at the sense of occasion.
Our cabin crew member was energetic and very friendly, maybe a bit too friendly. Service was efficient and brisk, and the cheerfulness was welcome, but it tipped over-familiar compared with the measured style I associate with Qatar. Some readers will love it. I found it a little much on a flight where I wanted to read and doze.
The amenity kit featured a selection of essentials from luxury French fragrance brand Diptyque, including moisturiser and a refreshing facial spray. It’s a nice premium touch, and thankfully, Qatar Airways seems to have moved on from those rather uninspiring eco-style cardboard boxes. Sustainability is important, of course, but there’s something to be said for an amenity kit that actually feels like a little luxury.
Food & Drink
One small change we noticed from our previous Qatar Airways flights was that the welcome drink was served with cold nuts. Previously, Qatar Airways served them warm, a small touch that we’d always appreciated. Sadly, that seems to have disappeared.
Food and drink have traditionally been a highlight of Qatar Airways Business Class, and our Copenhagen to Doha flight offered some excellent choices, particularly when it came to wine.
For starters, I chose the minestrone soup, while my partner went for the lobster and crab salad. I quickly regretted my decision. The salad looked fantastic and, apparently, tasted even better. Bread was served with butter and olive oil, although it was disappointingly tough. We paired the starters with a Wairau River Sauvignon Blanc.
For the main course, I opted for the traditional machboos, while my partner chose the beef tenderloin with sweet potato purée, squash and broccoli. The highlight, however, was the wine: a 2017 Margaux. An excellent find at 38,000 feet and a reminder that Qatar Airways still takes its wine selection seriously.
Dessert was chocolate, accompanied by a glass of Sauternes, followed by a Baileys later in the flight. Unfortunately, by then the crew had run out of ice. A minor disappointment, but another small detail worth mentioning.
There was no automatic second meal service on this flight, although a light snack was available on request. It’s another small observation that raises questions about whether Qatar Airways is quietly trimming back its Business Class offering. Between the cold nuts, little service details and the absence of a second meal service, we can see small changes from what we remembered. None of these is a dealbreaker in isolation, but collectively they suggest a gradual erosion of the premium touches that once made Qatar Airways stand out.
In-flight Entertainment
Oryx One had good options on it. The content library is deep, with plenty of recent films and enough back catalogue to fill a six-hour sector twice over. The screen responded quickly and the handset was straightforward.
Noise-cancelling headphones are provided and they are fine. We used our AirFly Pro adapters instead, which let us pair our own headphones and AirPods to the system. If you own a decent set, bring an adapter. The difference in sound quality is worth the small bit of kit in your bag.
However, with Qatar Airways rolling out Starlink Wi-Fi across much of its fleet (more on that later), traditional in-flight entertainment is becoming less essential. Having fast, reliable internet at 38,000 feet is a genuine game changer, allowing you to stream, browse and stay connected throughout the flight.
The downside? It also meant I could join a work conference call from somewhere above Europe. Not quite the relaxing start to a diving holiday I’d imagined, but apparently even 38,000 feet is no longer a good enough excuse to escape a meeting. Still, Starlink is an excellent addition to the onboard experience and arguably one of Qatar Airways’ biggest competitive advantages, and other airlines are only catching up.
Arrival
Arrival into Doha was quick. The aircraft parked at a gate, disembarkation was orderly, and the walk through to the transfer area took no time. All transfer passengers go through a security check, and this is where it gets inconsistent. Water was waved through at one checkpoint and confiscated at another, which makes it hard to plan.
That aside, Hamad handles connections well. Signage is clear, the walk is manageable, and we were through and into the terminal without hassle. For an arrival into one of the busiest hubs in the Gulf, it is about as painless as this gets.
Before our onward flight to Phuket, we headed to the Platinum and Gold Lounge North at Hamad International Airport, as we’ve done Al Mourjan countless times, so wanted to try something different. We’ll share our experience in a separate review, including whether it’s worth visiting.
BG1 Verdict
Our Qatar Airways Business Class Copenhagen to Doha experience left us with mixed feelings. Qatar Airways has spent years setting the benchmark for its seats, service, and food and drink, but on this flight I kept wondering whether the spark was fading. Cold nuts, tough bread, unreliable charging, a seat tighter than the numbers suggest and no second meal service. Individually, none of these is a major issue, but together they suggest some of the premium touches are slipping.
And having flown Qatar Airways on the return journey too, these inconsistencies became even more apparent. More on that in our upcoming reviews.
Qatar Airways needs to justify its premium over cheaper competitors. This was a good flight, but not the clear step above the competition that once made paying extra an easy decision. Would I fly Qatar Airways again? Yes. Would I pay a significant premium to do so? Maybe.
BG1 Tip
Pack a USB-A cable or a spare plug head. The wireless pad is unreliable, and the single USB-A socket will not take your modern cables. Without an adapter you will land with a flat phone.
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