Review of Qatar Airways flight from Dhaka to Doha in Business

This was my return journey after a very short trip to Bangladesh. Here are a few final shots of my village:

A banana tree

A small lake

A small river

Farmlands

Sunset

On the way to Dhaka airport

Finally at the airport. It’s 45 years old! And the government says it will take another two years before the newly built Terminal 3 can open. If you truly want to understand the essence of corruption and inefficiency, come to Bangladesh.

The airport was not very crowded. Checked in and crossed immigration fairly quickly. Then headed to lounge for breakfast.

Renovated Balaka lounge.

Food items

I had a little bit of beef tehari, chicken jalfrezi, and orange juice. The beef tehari was superb. They usually serve khichuri, but this time it was tehari.

Followed up with a piece of French toast and Tulsi tea.

Then went to the gate. Here was my plane.

The name of the plane was Bu Fantas

An Emirates 777 at the tarmac.

Here is my seat 4A.

Seat map review was right. Window was misaligned with the backrest of the seat. Qataraiways now charges from you for seat selection if you upgrade using avios. Very sad :(

The hard product can’t be compared to Q-Suite, but coming from a third-world country, I can’t really expect QA to deploy new aircraft or Q-Suite-retrofitted planes on the DAC–DOH route. I was happy regardless — I was flying business class, while millions in my country don’t even know where their next meal will come from.

Fortunately, no one was seated beside me. This type of business-class seat doesn’t offer the privacy of Q-Suites, but the space between the seat and the IFE could have been better optimized. They’ve left too much distance — to the point that when I reclined my seat, I actually struggled to read the text on the IFE screen.

AMPLE legroom. Unnecessary. But this seat model gives off a retro vibe, almost like the planes from the 90s.

Reading lights

Seat controls

IFE Control

The usual annoying safety video. But what is annoying to me is cool to others.

A small stowage. You have to press the circular buttons to slide open the lid.

A water bottle inside the stowage.

Overhead vents. The AC was very strong - a must for me.

The plane is 13 years old.

Flight INFO

The push back started on time.

Had to wait about 20 minutes before the pilot was given clearance to begin the takeoff roll

ROTATE - and airborne!

Bye Dhaka

Densely populated Dhaka.

Welcoming juice

I skipped the Arabic Qahwa and nut snack. Here was the menu. For the starter, I chose the Arabic Mezze. For the main course, I asked if I could have both the Murgh Mokul and the lamb rack. The stewardess was gracious and served me both.

Here comes my lunch. The hummus and muhammara were absolutely excellent.

The Murgh Mokul with methi leaves was very tasty. The pine-nut pulao was also good, but the rice felt a bit undercooked to me. Then again, they don’t really have an alternative — when cooking large batches, if they aim for perfectly cooked rice, they risk overcooking it and the grains can break or turn sticky. If it’s slightly undercooked, at least the grains stay long and intact.

As for the dal makhmali, I think it got slightly burnt during cooking — there was a noticeable burnt smell. The lamb rack was great, though I felt it was a bit undercooked. And I’m still not sure what the balsamic jus was supposed to be; it was too sharp for my taste.

Overall, I’d still say this was the best meal I’ve had on Qatar Airways. I skipped the post-lunch dessert.

What’s the difference between still and sparkling water, really? I enjoy luxury, but there’s a limit — beyond that, I start feeling guilty. I want to stay a commoner at heart, and I despise the elites. I never chose sparkling water.

Post lunch chocolate.

After lunch, I slept for about an hour, then watched the following documentary.

The crew served me karak tea at my request.

My definition/view of responsible sourcing may differ from a corporation's view of responsible sourcing.

Over the skies: ‘Exalted is He who has subjected this to us, and we could not have [otherwise] subdued it.’

This is the prayer Qatar Airways recites before every takeoff. They never display the meaning in English. It is a verse from the Quran (43:13).

The final approach. Wi-Fi was available throughout the flight, except while flying over India.

Over Qatar Water and Electricity Corporation (QWEC) plant

The plane landed on time.