- February 9, 2023
- Qatar Airways 841
- Phuket (HKT) – Doha (DOH)
- Departure: 2247(HKT)
- Arrival: 0112(DOH)
- Duration: 6:25
- Aircraft: Airbus A330-202
- Registration: A7-ACI
- Seat: 10D (Economy Class)
Before reviewing my Qatar Airways A330-200 experience, since I have written numerous similar economic class reviews on the Qatar Airways fleet, I will be writing a simple review on this flight. Additionally, since I spend nearly two days at the airport, I had to catch some sleep throughout the whole flight.
My flight from Phuket to Doha departed at 10:30 PM in the evening and prior to departure, I had a great time at the Coral First Class Lounge.
Qatar Airways HKT-DOH Boarding
Since the flight to Doha was relatively fully booked for the whole week, the boarding started earlier than expected with each zone.
The boarding gate at Phuket International Airport is quite small and there is no separate waiting area before boarding so there were lines forming here and there which took some time to board.
Qatar Airways A330-200 Economy Class Cabin
One of the reasons I chose this time over the earlier flight is that the aircraft was operated by an Airbus A330-200. I have frequently flown on the A330-300 series majority of the time but rarely on the -200 fleet.
The aircraft I flew to Doha was 17 years old with the registration number A7-ACI. This specific aircraft was also leased for a few months to Air Canada back in the summer of 2019 due to high travel demand.
The airline currently has five in its fleet with 260 seats: 24 in business and 236 in economy. The cabin is configured in a 2-4-2 layout with some seats at the aft section in a 2-3-2 layout.
Qatar Airways A330-200 Economy Class Seats
The A330-200 has rather wider seats compared to other widebodies with up to 32 inches (81cm) of pitch and 18 inches (46cm) of width.
The bulkhead seats are located on rows 10 and 28. These seats have more legroom and also a reclining reg rest that are comfortable for your legs for long flights. The only drawback of this seat is the armrests are fixed making it difficult to seat sideways.
All bulkhead seats also feature a bassinet for infants. This is one reason sometimes you might encounter infants who really cry for the whole period of time. So be aware of this. Also, the close vicinity of the lavatory will sometimes bother your sleep.
Except for having a long legroom, and an immovable armrest, the seat is pretty much similar to other seats around.
As with all Airbus A330s, the overhead bin is relatively small. Even my standard carry-on Rimowa needs to be fitted sideways. The best feature of the seat 10 overhead bin is there is a smaller bin that can be useful to fit smaller items.
Qatar Airways HKT-DOH Economy Class Dining
Since it was a red-eye flight and a late dinner was served around midnight, I skipped both the dinner and snack service. Here are the menus for the flight from Phuket to Doha.
Qatar Airways A330-200 Economy Class In-Flight Entertainment
Being seated on the bulkhead seat, the monitor is stowed under the armrest. To take out the monitor, you need to press a silver button on the side of the seat to unlatch it. The personal monitors are rather outdated and in some cases, the brightness is fixed to the maximum so no matter how I adjust the setting, it was too bright.
The remote controller is also located on the side of the armrest due to the bulkhead seat feature.
All Airbus A330s also do not have both the USB port and the power outlet in economy class. So I always charge my devices fully before getting on board the aircraft. Sometimes, if your phone is really running low on batteries, you can ask the crew member if they can charge your phone on the empty business class seats.
Qatar Airways A330-200 Economy Class Lavatories
There are seven lavatories in economy class where the three that are located in the forward section are sometimes shared by business class passengers and the remaining four are in the aft section of the aircraft. Lavatories with handicapped passengers are available in every section.
Summary
I flew Qatar Airways Airbus A330-200 from Phuket to Doha in economy class. While I fly on the A330-300 frequently, it is quite rare to fly on the -200 configurations since most of the aircraft serve mostly to Africa and Indian subcontinents.
The overall experience of the flight was similar to my other Qatar Airways experience although I slept the whole duration of the flight. Service and food wise, I still have not experienced any negative issues so I am satisfied with it.
