For the first leg of our slow, multi-flight journey to Kuala Lumpur, all part of a relatively cheap Oman Air ticket I’d managed to snag quite last minute, we flew in Qatar Airways business class, on their twice (now-thrice) daily Dublin to Doha service, this flight being QR18, which typically departs just after 2pm.

As I mentioned previously, we had enjoyed an extremely luxurious visit to Dublin Airport’s Platinum VIP facility and no amount of enjoyable business class to look forward to took away the sadness of having to leave our lovely suite after what felt like far too short a stay.

Qatar Airways, as at the time of our journey (December 2025) generally uses a 787-9 with a far more private, suite-based business class cabin to and from Dublin on this route, but we struck it slightly unlucky with our flight being operated by the older 787-8 business cabin, which is very open throughout the cabin.

We were both welcomed on board and quickly shown to our respective seats. On the Qatar Airways 787-8’s, the business cabin foregoes the set of centre aisle hand luggage storage bins – so I used the storage over the adjacent window seat, not that storage capacity ever became an issue with the relatively spacious cabin.

The crew were quick to come by and introduce themselves, a welcome touch, followed by an offer of a welcome drink (non-alcoholic only, in Dublin, as indeed was also my previous experience). The lemon mint comes highly recommended.

Nevertheless, the cabin continues to age well despite the lack of privacy, was spotlessly clean, and contained all the amenities you’d expect to find such as a lie-flat seat, ample counter space around the seat area, and a lovely mattress pad, duvet and pillow waiting at the seat.

Probably the one draw back to this cabin; or at least something I find a little bizarre is the openness of the two toilets, which open more or less straight into the seating area and right alongside the very last row of 2-seats. I don’t know why, but I find this really uncomfortable, even though that central entrance area does also become a DIY snack station of sorts during the flight. You can see the toilet door right there in the below picture to get a sense of what I mean.

Once underway, the much-needed glass of Champagne was brought to us both with suitable haste, while menu orders were also quickly taken.

On the menu was a range of starter choices between soup, the traditional Qatari Mezze, or some kind of crayfish salad – while the mains had options across beef, chicken, fish and a vegetarian option.

Ultimately, I stuck to the traditional mezze starter, and beef main course – both of which were perfectly fine, although I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was sure I remembered Qatar Airways food being slightly more flavourful.

After that, there was time, as there always is, for two or three more glasses of wine before calling it a night (or late afternoon, in this case).

Overall, I got quite a decent sleep, though I would say both the high cabin temperature – in all honesty exacerbated by the wine, I’m sure – along with the bright led lights in front of the bathrooms on either side of the aisles a few rows back, even with an eye mask, proved problematic and kept me waking up. The lights in particular, seemed quite bright every time my eye mask slipped; strange because that hasn’t caused me issues even on that exact aircraft type before.

I was less gone on the ‘light meal’ options and sensibly forewent those towards the end of the flight in exchange for a farewell glass of champagne. We also wound up with very little time to connect – especially given my insistence we make time for a quick look at the Al Safwa lounge (review to come), so I didn’t fancy heaving the whole way through Doha Airport.

Somehow despite pushing back a few minutes, heavy traffic approaching Doha Airport combined with a deeply unenviable bus gate on arrival, meant we actually wound up with only about 30 to 40 minutes from walking into the terminal to needing to be at our next gate what felt like several miles away.

Doha Airport however, continues to be – generally – a joy to transit through and spend time in, and I was pleased to finally see the expanded terminal and gate areas constructed since my last visit. The garden centrepiece in particular, seems like a lovely tranquil area to while away some time before a flight. Not that we did – we tore past it at a rate of knots, next stop Al Safwa!

Overall, a pleasant though not particularly remarkable flight; a business cabin that remains pleasant though clearly less private that nearly all recent competitors (including their own other business cabins), dining that was ‘fine' though unspectacular, and a difficult sleep unaided by cabin light. Certainly nothing that would entirely put me off, though I'd likely seek out the newer aircraft on the same route in future.