Karachi to London on Qatar Airways 22nd Aug '17

[Zulfiqar]

Flew back to London on QR. Check in was quick and immigration at JIAP did not take long. The aircraft had been changed from A332 to B788. The terminal seemed quiet even though there were quite a few hujjaj present. Overall only a few aircrafts present at both domestic and internal terminals.
Photos taken using a mobile phone.

Wet leased A320 at the domestic terminal




Shaheen A320 to Jeddah


View of the Tarmac from the International terminal


Qatar B787-800


One of the many palletes of mangoes being loaded into the hold (surprised that mangoes are still being exported so late in the season).


An arriving PIA A320 (domestic)


Qatar Cargo B77F taxiing for takeoff


PIA B773 AP-BID being towed to the hangers from the domestic terminal.


Another A320 arrived and taxied to the domestic terminal.


Saudia B773 HZ-AK23 arrived at the internal terminal.




Another tarmac view. An ex- PIA B743 can be seen in the background.


we pushed back 10 minutes ahead of schedule. A very slow taxi to 25L followed a quite a quiet (yet powerful ) takeoff. Weather partly cloudy and due to the overnight rain, Karachi without smog was nicely visible below.

Lunch was served about 30 minutes after takeoff. Salad; Rice with peas, chicken korma; daal, Kheer.


The flight load was about 30-40%. A view of the empty row I was sitting in. I spoke to the flight attendants and they seemed to be in a very relaxed and good mood.


While I was eating I noticed a PIA A320 approaching us, flying in the opposite direction. I managed to take my phone out and take a quick snap.


About 2 hours later we were landing in Doha.


Hamad Intl. Airport was really really quiet. It was actually quite a pleasant experience.
A leased LATAM A359 and a Qatar B773


A359 from inside seemed very nice, neat and new. The set pitch was a bit quite comfortable however it was not too much different the QRs A380 or the 787. Like the A380 and B787 it had a reasonable ORYX IFE system and wifi connectivity (15 minutes free). Wifi was reasonably good on the KHI -DOH sector (due to such a light load) but a bit slow on DOH - LHR sector as the flight was almost full. I think the Emirates IFE provides a wider range of Audi/visual entertainment. I also found that Emirates systems allows easier navigation through the IFE/flight route maps/cameras etc.

The flight from Doha to London Heathrow was on a A350-900. Unfortunately, it was hidden from view. I could only see its sharklets from the waiting room. QRs A359 is fitted with 3 cameras.I was impressed with the quality of picture. Also it had a good view of the nose wheels. After take off and before landing it was very great to watch the nose gear folding and un-folding.


A view of the sharklet on departure



Lunch
Ginger beef and jasmine rice. mango cheese cake. Very nice!


nice crisp forward camera views


tail cam


mood lighting


nice large windows- unlike claimed by QR on their IFE system, the windows does not have brightness control like the B788.. they have conventional shutters.


well designed deep sinks in the toilets



A NOT so nice hot chicken 'sandwich' and a brownie before landing


Landed 10 minutes before schedule. An Kuwait airway B773.


again i could not get a good view of the A359 i flew in. However got a shot of a Malaysian A380.


Overall, it was a nice flight (both to KHI and back) in modern well-maintained aircrafts.

Thanks for viewing.

[Vaqar Khan]

Thank you for sharing your return journey! It is disappointing you could not get more photographs of the A350. Interior wise was it roomier than the 787, which I found rather cramped?

[Zulfiqar]

Thanks Vaqar.
I have edited and corrected the images above, and included a cabin photo. The A350 cabin was perhaps slightly roomier than than the 787 but not too noticeable. the 787 seemed cramped on my way into KHI but very spacious on the way back. This was most certainly because the plane was almost empty on my way back. The seat is/ was slightly wider than the 787 and also there seem to be a little extra leg room - just slightly more.

A major difference is that both these aircraft are quieter than the previous generation of jets, and most certainly pressurisation to a lower altitude (like the A380) helps in passengers feeling less tired.

[Hamad]

Great TR with Pictures - Thanks for sharing.

Correction it's Kuwait Airways (New Livery) 773 instead of Egypt Air

[Zulfiqar]

Thanks Hamad for your comments.
Also, thanks for pointing out the very obvious error ( now corrected).