BACKGROUND Qatar Airways has eight Airbus A330-300 aircraft in its fleet, which are often used for the carrier’s medium-haul services such as this Doha-Colombo flight.
The aircraft is configured in two classes: 30 lie-flat seats in business class and 275 seats in economy. Note that there is also an older A330-300 aircraft, configured with 12 first class seats, 24 business class seats (but only angled flat) and 223 economy seats.
We were flying from London to Colombo, with a 2.5-hour stopover at Hamad International Airport in Doha (DOH). Flight QR660 departs at 0225 and lands at 0945 at Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), with a stated flight duration of 4 hours 50 minutes (ours was shorter at 4 hours 25 minutes).
As we were transiting through Doha, we did not have to pass through security or customs; our baggage was sent directly through to Colombo. We had