Qatar Airways Business & First Class meals

[Mattg]

Similar menu on DOH-RUH in F, also an evening flight, except that there were no alcoholic drinks at all (since the flight was to Saudi Arabia). The drinks menu was a lot shorter! I tried the “luxury non-alcoholic bubbly” (So Jennie) instead, which was pleasant but I didn’t really think it tasted anything like champagne.

 

[ols]

Dining on a short evening flight from DXB to DOH in F:

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Doing this trip both ways in a couple of weeks.
May I ask what was the champagne on the flight and did they serve it pre departure?

 

[jase05]

Doing this trip both ways in a couple of weeks.
May I ask what was the champagne on the flight and did they serve it pre departure?

Had the Lallier on my last flight to SHJ.
Served pretty much immediately after boarding, had barely taken my seat. Arabic coffee and dates also came out whilst on the ground.

 

[Mattg]

Doing this trip both ways in a couple of weeks.
May I ask what was the champagne on the flight and did they serve it pre departure?

I don’t remember what the champagne was, sorry, but there was a choice of brut or rosé. It may have been Lallier as @jase05 had.

They offered a choice of any drink you wanted on the ground, followed by Arabic coffee and dates while still on the ground, and then another drink after takeoff.

 

[jase05]

I don’t remember what the champagne was, sorry, but there was a choice of brut or rosé. It may have been Lallier as @jase05 had.

They offered a choice of any drink you wanted on the ground, followed by Arabic coffee and dates while still on the ground, and then another drink after takeoff.

We were offered the Lallier Brut or the Laurent-Perrier Rose. You could also choose any drink you wanted. We also had the Arabic coffee and dates on ground. Drinks were offered again moments after takeoff. Very efficient and prompt service

 

[bernardblack]

Had the Lallier on my last flight to SHJ.
Served pretty much immediately after boarding, had barely taken my seat. Arabic coffee and dates also came out whilst on the ground.

This is interesting as a comparison to RUH because IIRC Sharjah is the only one of the constituent emirates of the UAE which strictly prohibits alcohol even for nonMuslims.

 

[jase05]

This is interesting as a comparison to RUH because IIRC Sharjah is the only one of the constituent emirates of the UAE which strictly prohibits alcohol even for nonMuslims.

Yes. Airlines are permitted to serve alcohol to and from SHJ.
No alcohol on flights to Saudi Arabia or Kuwait though

 

[Mattg]

Yes. Airlines are permitted to serve alcohol to and from SHJ.
No alcohol on flights to Saudi Arabia or Kuwait though

I have in the past been served alcohol when flying LH to RUH, but that was pre-covid. Maybe something has changed since?

FWIW my TK flight out of Saudi had no alcohol.

 

[RooFlyer]

I have in the past been served alcohol when flying LH to RUH,

QR opened the bar as soon as the seat belt sign came off when leaving Tehran.

 

[jase05]

I have in the past been served alcohol when flying LH to RUH, but that was pre-covid. Maybe something has changed since?

FWIW my TK flight out of Saudi had no alcohol.

I can never remember receiving any alcohol on flights to Saudi Arabia or Kuwait so very interesting to hear that it has been served.
Slightly OT but in Sharjah we were pulled over twice whilst driving to check for alcohol but we didn’t have any onboard and then last year in Doha we had our bags searched as we had Delft houses in our luggage but having known the laws I had already drank them

 

[Flashback]

Yes. Airlines are permitted to serve alcohol to and from SHJ.
No alcohol on flights to Saudi Arabia or Kuwait though

I can never remember receiving any alcohol on flights to Saudi Arabia or Kuwait so very interesting to hear that it has been served.
Slightly OT but in Sharjah we were pulled over twice whilst driving to check for alcohol but we didn’t have any onboard and then last year in Doha we had our bags searched as we had Delft houses in our luggage but having known the laws I had already drank them

I've had booze on QR too and from KWI.

 

[bernardblack]

I have in the past been served alcohol when flying LH to RUH, but that was pre-covid. Maybe something has changed since?

FWIW my TK flight out of Saudi had no alcohol.

Maybe it's partly an airspace thing? From FRA/MUC to RUH only a short fraction at the end of the flight would be over KSA. But DOH-RUH would be over Saudi for almost the entire flight time.

 

[jase05]

Maybe it's partly an airspace thing? From FRA/MUC to RUH only a short fraction at the end of the flight would be over KSA. But DOH-RUH would be over Saudi for almost the entire flight time.

I was recently looking at the new VS flight from RUH-LHR and return and I reached out to VS online and they confirmed no alcohol on their flights to Saudi Arabia either

 

[Mattg]

Maybe it's partly an airspace thing? From FRA/MUC to RUH only a short fraction at the end of the flight would be over KSA. But DOH-RUH would be over Saudi for almost the entire flight time.

Not sure. Flying FRA-RUH on LH, they were proactively offering alcohol with the lunch service (while still flying over Europe) but they also made an announcement before landing advising that alcohol (and various other things) was strictly prohibited in KSA and they even came through the cabin with an amnesty/rubbish bag.

In the other direction, alcohol was offered with the supper service immediately after takeoff from RUH (at around 2am). I suspect we would have still been flying over Saudi airspace.

Things may have changed since I took those flights in 2019, though.