TRIP REPORT: Qatar Airways, Belgrade - Doha

TRIP REPORT

Written by Stefan P.

I travel to Doha for work regularly and for these business trips travel with Qatar Airways. I have always been impressed with their service. When the long time CEO of the company was replaced overnight 2 years ago, I thought service quality would slip, as he was known for keeping a tight ship and putting a big emphasis on service quality. I have actually found that the opposite happened. Service quality has improved even more, at least in the premium cabins. I can say without doubt that Qatar Airways currently offers the best business class product from Belgrade in terms of service and the best hard product on a single-aisle plane from Belgrade.

I usually arrive at Belgrade Airport around 2 and a half hours before departure as I like to walk around the terminal before the flight and do some plane spotting. At this time, the Qatar check-in desks are still relatively quiet. I checked in quickly and, as is usually the case on Qatar flights from Belgrade, it was sold out in both business and economy. While Menzies is responsible for check in, what makes a big difference with Qatar is that they have several of their own staff members with in their uniforms supervising the check in and boarding process. This makes things a whole lot smoother. For example, I was impressed seeing one of their staff members speak fluent Arabic with one of the passengers, only to turn around and speak Serbian with another.

After checking in, I proceeded through the fast track passport control and security. Belgrade Airport has finally realised that having a fast-track lane is pointless if you mix the passengers up after the initial separation upon entering the lanes. While they are still realising that for passport control, they have at least completely separated the security lanes, where you have to show your boarding pass to enter the fast-track security lane (after passport control), which was not the case in the past. I must also say that the new Belgrade Arport duty free also has some cool features I haven't seen elsewhere.

Qatar Airways uses the Air Serbia lounge, which I know has been reviewed here many times before, so I won’t go into details.

Boarding for Qatar flights starts relatively early and around 40 minutes before departure boarding began. Boarding is first called out for business passengers, after which the rest of the boarding process is organised by zones.

The cabin on board is in a 2-2 layout featuring 12 seats. Since last winter season, Qatar Airways has ended using old-style recliner seats on this route and now only uses it A320s with lie-flat seats.

Quickly after boarding, the crew comes around to introduce themselves (both cabin crew members working in the cabin). You are offered a welcome drink (you can choose whatever you want) and a refreshment towel is given. I usually choose the tasty (but very sweet) lime and mint juice, which they call their signature drinks.

At each seat there is a menu and wine list, bottle of water, headphones, pillow, blanket and a small amenity kit. The lunch orders are taken usually before departure, and you can choose when you prefer to dine during the flight.

On its mobile app, Qatar also features the full menu for your flight, so I screenshotted that menu for the purpose of this report. On the app, you can also preorder any main meal that will be served on the flight, but you can also preorder some that are not featured on the menu, which I did by. Keep in mind that this is just a four-and-a-half-hour flight.

The passenger structure on this flight is mixed and varies depending on which month you are traveling. From my experience, I have found that it is primarily used by the Serbian diaspora in Australia during the summer, Serbian passengers flying to exotic destinations in the winter, and there is a constant flow of Chinese and Russian passengers year-round.

We departed on time and soon after the crew began the service. First they come out offering dates to passenger accompanied by Arabic coffee (poured in front of you from a large Arabic tea pot). Then you are served a drink with your choice of either mixed nuts or sweet potato chips. Then, if you selected to dine, the meal is served. Everything is placed individually on the table starting with the entre, then main and dessert. You also select things such as the bread and the type of olive oil you want. I have to mention that the crew is well organised, so all the meals are served quickly and plates are cleaned soon after you finish.

As I wrote above, the seats are lie-flat and the entertainment offering is also extensive.

Around 40 minutes before landing the crew gives each passenger a small box of chocolates and a hot towel. For a 4 hour 30 minute flight and I definitely think you can’t get a better product from Belgrade.

The lavatories are also clean and stocked with tooth brushers and razors.

Thanks to the recent expansion of Doha airport and the opening of a lot of new airbridge gates, the Belgrade flights are now exclusively disembarked by an air bridge. In the past, due to a lack of space, this flight (like almost all on the A320), would get a remote parking stand, which would require a usually lengthy bus trip.

Upon arrival, business class passengers can use an arrivals lounge at Doha airport, where apart from refreshments you have a dedicated passport control. I think very few people know about this as it is always empty. All you need to do is show your boarding pass. And for Serbian passengers, a warning that Qatar no longer enables visa on arrival for Serbian citizens after Serbia introduced visas for Qataris. You need to apply beforehand, although the process is quick and you are issued a visa within 24 hours.

You can see passport control a the back of the photo

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