Qatar Airways Swaps 777 On Hong Kong Routes For October

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Qatar Airways currently offers Boeing 787s on their Hong Kong to Doha route, which feature a great hard product in business class, and one of the better economy class products that a 787 has (apart from Japan Airlines, all operators of the 787 feature nine-abreast seats in economy class, and Qatar Airways seems to have one of the better economy class seats out there as far as a nine-abreast 787 configuration goes.

a seat in a planeQatar Airways Boeing 787-8 Business Class

No, it isn’t Qatar Airways’ best aircraft – the A380 features a bar for business class passengers, and their A350 features a wider cabin (and thus more spacious seats, as their cabins are laid out the same way). However, it’s still a great way to fly between Hong Kong and Doha, at least in business class (I haven’t flown them in economy before, so I can’t speak for that).

a seat in a planeQatar Airways Boeing 787-8 Business Class Bed

Qatar Airways is doing several minor aircraft swaps in October, most of which are positive, but unfortunately the onboard product on Qatar Airways’ Hong Kong route is being negatively affected. From October 1st to October 31st, 2017, Qatar Airways will operate a 777-300ER between Doha and Hong Kong.

a group of airplanes parked at an airportQatar Airways Boeing 777-200LR Doha Airport

Qatar Airways operates an evening flight and a midnight flight between Hong Kong and Doha, the former of which departs at 7 PM, and the latter of which departs at 1 AM. Both of these rotations will be affected, though for slightly different periods of time.

Qatar Airways’ earlier frequency between Hong Kong and Doha is scheduled as follows, and will operate as a 777-300ER from October 1 to October 29, 2017:

Qatar Airways 818 Doha to Hong Kong dep 02:55 arr 16:05
Qatar Airways 817 Hong Kong to Doha dep 19:10 arr 22:40

Qatar AIrways’ later frequency between Hong Kong and Doha is scheduled as follows, and will operate as a 777-300ER from October 1 to October 30, 2017 (flight 815 will depart as a 777-300ER until October 31st):

Qatar Airways 816 Doha to Hong Kong dep 07:50 arr 20:35
Qatar Airways 815 Hong Kong to Doha dep 00:55 arr 04:25

This represents as a downgrade in both cabin classes, unfortunately. Business class is laid out in a 2-2-2 configuration on Qatar Airways’ 777s, with seats similar to Korean Air’s business class. They’ll be operating their less dense 777, with 42 seats in business class spread out across two cabins (their denser 777 features 24 business class seats spread out across a single cabin).

a close-up of a planeQatar Airways Boeing 777-300ER Business Class

Qatar Airways’ economy class on the 777 features a ten-abreast configuration, which is probably worse than the nine-abreast configuration on the 787.

a group of people sitting in an airplanePassengers flying Qatar Airways economy class from Hong Kong to Doha in October will be left dreaming about a 787 economy class cabin instead

Bottom Line

Ultimately those booked on Qatar Airways between Hong Kong and Doha in October will be disappointed, especially those seated in business class, as the seating configuration has changed entirely. Qatar Airways has a habit of not notifying passengers prior to equipment swaps, so I bet there will be disappointed passengers at the airport on this flight this October.

Is anyone booked on Qatar Airways’ flights between Hong Kong and Doha this October?

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