Incredible Experience: Qatar Airways Mini QSuite On 787-9

Qatar Airways Mini QSuite On 787-9 introduced yet a new product to the luxury aviation market. Facing the challenge of incorporating its award winning QSuite product onto the narrower 787-9 Dreamliners, Qatar Airways embarked on a journey to redefine luxury in air travel.

Qatar had already been flying the smaller 787-8s with excellent reverse herringbone seats, however retaining those seats would not be in keeping with Qatar’s ethos of bringing the best possible seats onto it’s new airplanes.

Navigating the unique dimensions of the 787 series, which are narrower than the Airbus A350 and Boeing 777, Qatar Airways encountered the need for an entirely new product design. Unlike the A350, fitting four QSuites in each row of the 787 proved to be a logistical puzzle. It was just a few inches too narrow.

Enter Adient Ascent, a renowned manufacturer with a stellar reputation in the automotive world, stepping into the realm of aviation to contribute to this timely endeavour.

Would this product delivery on Qatar’s exacting standards?

Flight Particulars

Route: Doha – Dhaka
Flight No: QR 642 
Date: 22.11.2023
Departure Time: 18:55
Flight Duration: Blocked 5:10 minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 787-900
Seats/Suite: 7K

Check-In

I love a Qatar Airways trip that actually starts in Doha because like many other airlines you get Qatar’s full premium experience from start to finish ! Qatar does an excellent job with it’s outstation lounges in primary cities, the check-in experience however can be hit or miss. Even in it’s most flagship of routes, London !

Like the new Istanbul International Airport, Hamad Airport has it’s own dedicated entry to the terminal for premium passengers..

I arrived at the airport just past 1.30pm local time into an exclusive Premium check-in area..

There were a few other guests checking in at also, but you would hardly notice it unless you just happen to be looking for them !

Several staff are at your service to usher you into a check-in booth. As it happens I was already checked-in with a mobile boarding pass so I just dropped my bag and I was through in mere seconds!

Security was an absolute breeze, I was airside in less than 10 minutes total !

Lounges Galore

As of this year, your lounge options in Hamad International are rather dreamy. On a full Business class ticket, you now have access to 2 different Al Mourjan lounges, the original on the southern part of the terminal. As well as several other new lounges.

In the new northern extension you also have a fancy new Louis Vuitton Lounge..

Qatar Platinum and First customers can get access, yet in a strange twist of departure from lounge custom, you still have to pay for F&B !

In the same compounds, you also have the brand new Al Mourjan Garden Lounge..

I spent the majority of my time in Al Mourjan garden, which is simply a fantastic addition in HIA.

Boarding

Our flight boarding preparations were timely and well organised. I feel many airlines get Business Class boarding wrong, but not on this occasion.

Surprisingly Qatar was boarding this aircraft through two jet bridges. So while starting boarding special needs passengers through door 2, simultaneously Business Class passengers were allowed to board through door 1. Why can’t more airlines do this?

Even better, in a rare stroke of luck,  I had the entire aircraft to myself for about 2 minutes ! I filmed the beautiful cabin and  posed on my Instagram stories here

Sadly, too busy with filming, I forgot to take any pictures with the empty cabin !

When boarding through door 2, you have this rather spacious and elegantly designed walkway, an enhanced version of what is found on 787-8s.

There are just 30 Business Suites in this aircraft, running the entire space between door 1 & 2. You can see the seatmap here

The cabin is absolutely stunning, pictures would not have done it justice in the low lighting anyway!

Qatar Airways Mini QSuite On 787-9

This Adient Ascent product is a fusion of reverse-herringbone for window seats, and herringbone for centre aisle seats. This means centre seats face away from each other.

I chose to take Suite 7K, a window as always!

On first sight this cabin/product my immediate thought were “yeah, I can see why this is good enough for Qatar Airways !” The product and individual Suites are a sleek refresh of what are now signature Qatar design elements and even more visually striking than the original QSuites !

The 17″ IFE Screen is sharp with the most subtle mood lighting around it..

Then the elegant lamp just adds a beautiful warm atmosphere within the Suites and cabin as a whole

Here you also have your sole main storage area. Which is perhaps the main weakness of this product as there is not much else storage wise besides the open side console.

Note the area beside this unit? Well this is your wireless phone charging pocket! Clever right? Unlike the design of other products like Etihad where this is integrated onto the option portion of the side console, meaning your phone can slip away in case of moderate turbulence.

In terms of the footwell, this is just as big and spacious as the main QSuite and far better yet than most other Business Class seats today.

If you’ve read my original QSuite flight reviews, you’d know I found the product to be rather narrow, right from the get go ! And somehow weirdly this mini QSuite actually felt more spacious?!

The doors of this closed Suite is not as high as the QSuite. But I think that is just fine. Infact, I am convinced the whole cabin looks much better as a result of it!

This is because I find the high walls of the QSuite does tend to make the cabin feel more dark when many Suites are closed.

The main seat controls are just before the side console here.

Here are a couple of pictures of the cabin, which unfortunately did not come out very well mid-flight..

This flight ended up being almost full in this Business Cabin. No sooner had everyone managed to get settled in, our flight pushed back bang on time out of a clear Doha nights sky.

Qatar Airways Mini QSuite Service

As usual service was warm and friendly. Qatar offers an impressive wine list including some very fancy wines such as Laurent-Perrier Grande Cuvée Alexandra Rosé 2007 vintage, which retails around £300 a bottle !

I decided not to drink on this flight and was more than happy with signature Lime Mint drink as a welcome on the ground.

For first post take-off drinks, I opted for the Pineapple punch.

Meal choices were taken at this time, and the menu for this flight was as follows:

The menu had a heavy focus on South Asian cuisine, with an Italian option for those that fancied otherwise. This made perfect sense for a flight heading to South Asia and most South Asians  love their own cuisine!

While post take-off service was quick off the mark, the meal service got off to a slow start. There was a 20 minute gap between my table being set and the first pre-appetiser arriving..

The carrot soup of the day was a perfect warm up for dinner. The bread arrived super fresh and hot too which I appreciate.

For the starter, as much as I love an Arabic Mezze, I just feel like it’s too much to handle so opted for steamed panjabi somosas..

Again this was great. Notice the impeccable presentation!

What may be confusing/odd to some however is, for Bengali people (as most of the passengers in this flight were) this is not a Samosa but a Shingara !

Technicalities aside, it tasted great and it’s great to be served healthier versions of people’s favourite fried snacks 🙂

Now to perhaps the worst part of the service..

20 minutes after finishing my starter, I was half starting to wonder where my main was! At the same time I was enjoying the film I was watching, I did not immediately seek out the crew. Crew I could see in my peripheral vision were busy running up and down the cabin !

Another 15 minutes went past before I decided to call the crews attention.

5 minutes after that, my main arrived ( Rarha gosht with dumki gobi ) along with a sincere apology from the flight attendant. She explaining she was new and still getting used to the service flow in Business..

It was hard not to instantly forgive the delay because the dish smelt absolutely divine.. it literally transformed the aroma of the entire section of the cabin and I even had the guy from behind me asking me what I ordered !

I feared that it might have been overcooked, but oh no. It was perfectly cooked.  The meat was tender, the pilou rice was fluffy and the spices of the masala just bought them to life.. it was simply delicious in every single way.

My tastebuds were truly having a party in my mouth that I have to say this was THE BEST DISH I HAVE HAD IN 2023 on a plane or otherwise !

This time around, the crew was quick to notice me devour the whole plate and asked if I was ready for my dessert… I mean I could have had that whole main all over again but yeah..

I ordered some mint tea with my mango mouse, a fitting way to finish off my dinner.

Mini QSuite Entertainment + Wifi

Unfortunately Qatar Airways still does not offer Business Passengers free Wifi but you can pay $10 for your flight with no data limits, which is very reasonable. Recently Qatar announced plans to offer free Starlink WiFi but it’s unclear when exactly this will be available.

In terms of IFE and programming, Qatar’s Oryx One still offer a solid good range of movies, series and documentaries. It is not on the level of Emirates ICE, but in no way does it need to be.

I finished watching Space Oddity during the meal which was quite a average low budget film. After that I watched Jailhouse Rock and then I was just happy with the inflight map and listening to music too

Qatar Airways QSuite Lite Bed

With the dinner service being drawn out over 2 hours, there was not much time left to actually try and sleep for our past 2 am arrival. I off course had to test out what the bed was like regardless

When I tucked into bed, I was genuinely impressed with how comfortable and spacious the bed felt despite the smaller suite. I found it a little more comfortable than most other J products, other than Apex Suites which are the king for Business Class beds!

A little over an hour enjoying some horizonal time, my flight was approaching into a foggy Dhaka night. It was over all too quick!

Overall Thoughts

First off, I think this Adient Ascent is a fantastic product and Qatar did a good job of customizing to their preferences. It just works! You can call this the mini Qsuite or the QSuite Lite. Functionality-wise, it checks all the boxes, offering everything one needs, with perhaps just a tad more storage space, which suits me perfectly as I prefer to travel light. I’d gladly choose this aircraft for 11/12 hour routes!

However, if traveling with a companion, the herringbone configuration in the centre seats might not be ideal. Yet, the product appears adaptable, allowing airlines to arrange alternating centre rows facing forward – a feature other airlines might adapt.

American Airlines’ will use this product for their latest Flagship, it will be interesting to see what configuration they opt for.

On the service front, despite the delays in my main meal arriving, I honestly cannot fault them too much. There is always going to be new crew or perhaps experienced crew having an off day. Overall, Qatar Airways Business Class service remains outstanding. The catering on this flight surpassed some First Class experiences I’ve had. Qatar Airways continues to uphold its tagline, “First in Business somewhat :)”.

Lately, certain vloggers have stirred controversy around Qatar Airways, claiming a drop in standards. I personally think some of it is just desperate attempts at attention seeking. Dramatic headlines for clickbaits have sadly become a norm.

I have been flying Qatar since I was a teenager with many friends and family that fly them regularly too in Business and Economy. Most are happy to forgive the odd flights that are less than perfect.