This weeks journey starts in Doha after flying in with Qatar Airways from Copenhagen, that was last weeks review.
Hamad International Airport (DOH) is certainly big and operates as one main, integrated passenger terminal complex divided into five concourses (A, B, C, D, and E).
Today, we're flying SalamAir from DOH (Doha) to MCT (Muscat), in Economy.
I was very impressed with the layout of Hamad International Airport and found it to be very well laid out.
Today, I'm sitting in seat 13F. No bag drop for me, I'm travelling light with my carry on case and rucksack. It's important to note that I did have to pay extra for the carry on suitcase, as you only receive the standard "personal item" allowance with SalamAir.
I also loved the indoor water fountain at DOH.
The centrepiece at Doha is a large teddy bear, I do love this!
The nominated Priority Pass lounge is Al Maha, and is located just before you go into the C, D and E gates.
You just have to head up the escalator in order to find the lounge. It's very well signposted.
Coffee was immediately needed! I've been flying quite a lot lately and it had really caught up on me, not to mention landing very late the evening before with Qatar.
The lounge is quite relaxing. It's very well spaced out with lots of seating available. The food offering this time wasn't half as good though as I remembered it when my husband I flew via Doha when we came back from Bangkok.
There's tea and coffee available.
There's cans of drinks available, alongside free pour still and sparkling water.
There were various pots with meats, olives and salad.
Sausages and omelettes (yes, these were very overdone!).
There were a variety of breads available including Arabic breads.
And local specialities like Ful medames…
…and congee! I'll stick with my muffin thanks.
The Wi-Fi was very speedy, averaging roughly 118Mbps download.
It was then time to fly. I headed down to the gate, A8 for our journey with SalamAir today, over to Muscat.
I had my digital boarding pass in an attempt to save paper, but was told I had to get a printed boarding pass. This was done at the boarding gate for me.
Excuse Doha's silly privacy dots on the window, but today's aircraft is an Airbus A321neo.
There were no physical weighing or measuring of bags but my larger cabin suitcase was tagged with a Priority cabin sticker. I was told that because I had paid for this as an extra, it would receive a space in the overhead locker.
There was a small wait before boarding commenced. At A8, you're boarded into this small waiting area and then you're not required to show your passport again.
Time to board. Air conditioned air bridges - what a relief!
SalamAir's A321neo is in a 3/3 seating layout, and I must admit, for a low-cost carrier, this was far above what I was expecting.
Here's my seat today, 13F, by the window.
It really didn't feel like a low-cost carrier to me. Leather seats, adjustable headrests and reasonable legroom. Is this how low-cost is done in the Middle East?
13F also gives a nice view of the wing.
The seats also have thick leather headrests branded with SalamAir - these couldn't have been cheap!
There's 1 USB-A charging socket per seat.
There was also a safety card and a Salam Cafe menu, displaying a variety of items available to order on-board.
This is also the first safety card that's made a child look like they're wearing a tutu when it is in fact a lifejacket!
The only slight negative: even Middle Eastern low-cost carriers seem to succumb to the pitfalls of rapid turnarounds. The plane did have a bit of rubbish on the floor. Nothing major but worth noting.
And whilst the legroom was very reasonable anyway for a LCC, I also ended up with the middle seat empty too. Yeah, I'll take that!
I initially thought we might be departing late, but a very rapid pushback and short taxi saw us depart right on time.
And it's always a scenic departure out of DOH.
That beach looks tempting!
After around 10 minutes into the climb, the cabin crew began their on-board Salam Cafe service. You could pre-order items during the booking process or pay on-board.
They were even offering hot meals like stroganoff and biryani on this very quick hop to Muscat. I was most impressed.
But for me, I opted for an Omani buffet. Firstly, the Chips Oman.
These were in a Pringles-style tube but oddly diced into strips.
They were salty and spicy and actually quite nice.
Next was the Omani Date Bar.
I'm a huge lover of dates…
…and these were very reminiscent of fig rolls (if you remember them!).
Finally from me, a quick toilet check. This was the toilets at the front of the aircraft and they were clean.
And just like that, we began our descent into Muscat. It absolutely flew with a flight time of just over an hour.
I must state I was very impressed with SalamAir, especially for the price I paid just £109.60 one-way.
