Our flight left Penang for Qatar (Doha) airport at 8.20pm local time. We made very good time and arrived 1 hour ahead of schedule - 7 hours flying instead of 8 hours. Sadly that just meant that we had a 3½ hour stopover at Doha instead of a 2½ hour stopover. The final leg of our journey took 7 hours.
The flights themselves were brilliant. The seats in Business Class are fabulous - you can raise and lower the armrests, the chairbacks and the foot/leg rests which start under the knee and give complete support to the lower legs, regardless of how high or low you position them. The seats convert to flat beds for sleeping. The area around each seat has numerous shelves and storage areas so your belongings are kept out of the way.
We were provided with 'sleep suits' from the White Company - lightweight joggers and long sleeved T shirts, slippers, and a toiletry bag filled with moisturers, lip balm and anti-ageing moisturer.
Meals are 'on demand' so you tell the crew at what time you'd like to eat. The large tray tables get laid with white linen tablecloth/serviette and a (fake) candle and there are several meal choices available - you could mix/match so in theory could have 3 desserts if you wished.
I think there were 8 different wines to choose from, plus 2 types of champagne, a dessert wine and port. After every snack/meal you are offered hot or cold towels to freshen up and the staff are so attentive - asking frequently if we wanted more wine, soft drinks or snacks. If you don't want to bother the staff, there is a bar at the back of the cabin with 'serve yourself champagne' and a selection of snacks and fresh fruit!
And Godiva chocolates after every meal. So we have 8 boxes of chocolates, 8 toiletry bags, 4 sleep suits (we gave our first lot to the villagers at the Rain Forest Inn, Cameron Highlands, as we knew we'd be getting more on the journey home and our cases were pretty full already).
We highly recommend Qatar Airways (Business Class) ... look out for special offers!
Driving to Penang Airport yesterday afternoon (at 5pm) the temperature was 43deg - the hottest day we experienced on our trip. We arrived at Gatwick at 6.30am local time to 4deg. At least the house is warm and we're not venturing out today.
The flights themselves were brilliant. The seats in Business Class are fabulous - you can raise and lower the armrests, the chairbacks and the foot/leg rests which start under the knee and give complete support to the lower legs, regardless of how high or low you position them. The seats convert to flat beds for sleeping. The area around each seat has numerous shelves and storage areas so your belongings are kept out of the way.
We were provided with 'sleep suits' from the White Company - lightweight joggers and long sleeved T shirts, slippers, and a toiletry bag filled with moisturers, lip balm and anti-ageing moisturer.
Meals are 'on demand' so you tell the crew at what time you'd like to eat. The large tray tables get laid with white linen tablecloth/serviette and a (fake) candle and there are several meal choices available - you could mix/match so in theory could have 3 desserts if you wished.
I think there were 8 different wines to choose from, plus 2 types of champagne, a dessert wine and port. After every snack/meal you are offered hot or cold towels to freshen up and the staff are so attentive - asking frequently if we wanted more wine, soft drinks or snacks. If you don't want to bother the staff, there is a bar at the back of the cabin with 'serve yourself champagne' and a selection of snacks and fresh fruit!
And Godiva chocolates after every meal. So we have 8 boxes of chocolates, 8 toiletry bags, 4 sleep suits (we gave our first lot to the villagers at the Rain Forest Inn, Cameron Highlands, as we knew we'd be getting more on the journey home and our cases were pretty full already).
We highly recommend Qatar Airways (Business Class) ... look out for special offers!
Driving to Penang Airport yesterday afternoon (at 5pm) the temperature was 43deg - the hottest day we experienced on our trip. We arrived at Gatwick at 6.30am local time to 4deg. At least the house is warm and we're not venturing out today.
