Qatar Airways – A Persian Gulf Airline has been on the airline market for 21 years. Its fleet is diverse – from Airbus A319LR, via Airbus A320, A330, A340, A380 respectively Boeing 777-200LR, 777-300ER to Airbus A350-900 or Boeing 787-800. The very last named Boeing 787-800 (Dreamliner) appears on the nearby Vienna airport every day. During the summer months, there was an increase in rotation and we will be able to see this aircraft on Wednesday and Friday to 2x.
Thanks to FlughafenFreunde Wien and Qatar Airways, I was able to look into the guts of this unlikely visitor to nearby airports on Sunday 7th June.
We meet on 8am on Sunday at Qatar Airways Terminal 3 where, after a brief welcome from the company’s managers, we go directly behind the airport – after a short and inevitable stop at the ID card slot passage, we pass through the corridors through the boarding pass control until part of the airport to gate D28.
Here was parked Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner by Qatar Airways, which arrived from Doha at 6:21 with 20 minutes in advance. The stand will remain until 11:10, when scheduled to return to Qatar – Doha.
Before I share the details with you, let me briefly introduce you to the A7-BCU airplane.
This aircraft took off on 27 February 2015 and shipped to Qatar Airways on 8 April this year. It is a medium-sized, twin-engine, which has been utilized to a large extent with carbon fibers that consume up to 20% fuel savings compared to Boeing 767. Two General Electric GEnx engines with a thrust of 284.7kN allow this machine to achieve maximum speed up to 945km / h in flight level.
During their brief activity it has visited Singapore, Riyadh, Munich, Bangalore, Oslo, Copenhagen. Its utilization is really high.
The aircraft is in the configuration of 22 business class seats and 232 seats in the economy class.
But back to the tour – on the deck we were welcomed by Skysmith and Sky Interier – on the left there is a business class and a right-handed tourist class. As the tall person, the height of the interior and its airyness are in the eye. The 30% larger, electrically-dimming windows were obscured throughout the cabin, giving the accent of LED backlighting.
First of all, we have had the opportunity to test the convenience of a business class seat that is fully adjustable, including the lumbar support and armrests.
The seats are flat bed type with a length of 203 cm, which should be enough for most of the population. Interestingly, the airbag is integrated into the safety belt. Standard IFEs are displayed on a wide touch LCD monitor, which can also be controlled via a cable remote control.
Pomaly sa stáva zvykom, že lietadlá majú na palube aj minibar. V tomto nemôže byť katarský Dreamliner výnimkou – minibar sa nachádza priamo pri vstupe a je výhradne určený pasažierom biznis class. Catering je cestujúcim podávaný z prednej kuchynky a pasažieri majú k dispozícii 2 dedikované toalety.
Turistická trieda je napriek 232 sedadlám a usporiadaniu 3-3-3 vzdušná a v rámci možností komfortná. Každé sedadlo je vybavené LCD monitorom, prípojkou na slúchadlá a USB konektorom na nabíjanie malých elektrických zariadení. Turistická trieda je rozdelená pomocou štyroch toaliet na 2 sekcie.
V zadnej časti lietadla sa nachádza kuchynka pre ekonomickú triedu a ďalšie 2 toalety.
It is slowly becoming the habit of having a mini-bar on board. In this, the Dreamliner can not be the exception – the minibar is located directly at the entrance and is exclusively designated by a business class passengers. Catering is provided to the passenger from the front kitchen and the passengers have 2 dedicated toilets.
The economy class has 232 seats and the layout 3-3-3 airy and as comfortable as possible. Each seat is equipped with an LCD monitor, a headphone connector and a USB connector for charging small electrical devices. The tour class is divided by four toalettes into 2 sections. In the rear of the aircraft there is a kitchen for economy class and two more toilets.
During the tour, the company’s staff responded to a number of questions, whether directly related to the aircraft or the airline. One of the most exciting “upkeep” is the mirror placed in the overhead bin and helps reduce the likelihood of losing the luggage. Interestingly, there is alcohol on board during Ramadan flights, which is not the case with Gulf airlines. Special catering in Vienna’s flights is provided by Do & Co, which is particularly familiar to passengers from the Austrian Airliners.
At the end of the visit, we were able to visit the “highlight of the day” – the cockpit. This is surprisingly spacious despite the 2 jump seat, and it is also bright thanks to the large windows. 
The ergonomics of the control layout is on the first place on this aircraft – everything is within reach of the captain and the co-pilot. The built-in visibility display (HUD) maximizes the load on pilots for long flights and complicated starting and landing maneuvers. Airline Qatar Airways, due to deploying Dreamliners for flights up to 6 hours, did not equip its aircraft with a special cabin crew rest area.
It was close to the end of presentation and we were able to see the plane from the outside from various angles. We have also been alerted that, due to the use of carbon composites, this type of aircraft is more difficult to notice hull damage because of the nature of the material, the damage is manifested by a crack, as opposed to cracking using classical construction materials.
First of all, when a person looks at the outside of the aircraft, they are the engines – their size and shape. Lengths of 4.7m and 2.7m in diameter are really impressive.
After a close look at the exterior, there was only a rendezvous with technicians, cabin crew members and a team of Qatar Airways staff.
I would like to say that this machine is a very pleasant visitor of airports around the world.
I am very glad to have been able to take a closer look at this machine and therefore I’m passing big Thank You Flughafenfreune Wien and Austrian branch of Qatar Airways.
