{"id":1992,"date":"2016-09-01T23:59:25","date_gmt":"2016-09-01T15:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/?p=1992"},"modified":"2017-08-20T07:36:11","modified_gmt":"2017-08-19T23:36:11","slug":"20160901qr246","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/2016\/09\/01\/20160901qr246\/","title":{"rendered":"Flight Log of Qatar Airways Flight 246 from Istanbul Ataturk to Doha on September 1st, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Time to head back home.
\nIt seemed that everything was expedited for the last day, I finished my tour of Eyup and Golden Horn ahead of schedule, my parents finished their visit of Grand Bazaar ahead of schedule, then all the gift shopping and currency exchange was done without a hitch.
\nSo the result was that, we arrived at the airport four hours before our scheduled departure.<\/p>\n


\nThe images in this post are hosted on Imgur. Email me should there be any display problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

With all the threats of looming terrorists, we needed to go through security screening when entering the airport from the subway station. One thing I wasn\u2019t so comfortable about is that, I waited longer at that preliminary screening than at the actual screening inside the airport, which sounded quite ironic. <\/p>\n

And by the way, maybe due to the absence of currency regulations and competitions (both of which are good), the currency exchanges at the airport was offering better rates than the shops downtown, which was quite to my surprise.<\/p>\n

\"Istanbul<\/a>

<\/br>Istanbul Ataturk Airport Check-in Counters<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Boarding<\/a>

<\/br>Boarding Passes<\/p><\/div>
\nAgain, it sadden me greatly that I was waiting in a dwindling queue for the boarding passes and checked bags.<\/p>\n

One thing I shall mention was that, for the last couple of days Qatar Airways had been operating this daily service to Istanbul with A333, but somehow, that day\u2019s service was instead an A332. Maybe this change caused Qatar Airways to oversell that flight.
\nThere were (I thought) two families (ours and one else) of three flying to Shanghai on that day, and we seemed to be checking in at the same time. The agent (who didn\u2019t speak very good English by the way) informed me that there was an oversold, but somehow I was misinformed that it\u2019s the flight to Shanghai that\u2019s oversold, and he tried to give me some offer. So I didn\u2019t hesitate to mention my offer to fly us to Hangzhou instead (I checked in advance that Qatar\u2019s 4-times-a-week service to HGH departs 5 minutes earlier than its Shanghai daily service on that day). By the time some senior staff came along and I got clear it was the Doha-bound flight that\u2019s oversold, it seemed the other family had already taken the offer to fly Turkish Airlines direct to Shanghai.
\nConclusion: Please Qatar Airways, hire someone that speaks better English.<\/p>\n

Then we headed for the immigration and security, as I witnessed more line cutting than in China. Well, I certainly didn\u2019t miss home in this aspect.<\/p>\n

\"Istanbul<\/a>

<\/br>Istanbul Ataturk Airport Ceilings<\/br>Oh, did I accidentally take a photo of the security screening areas?<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Istanbul<\/a>

<\/br>Istanbul Ataturk Airport Shops<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Istanbul<\/a>

<\/br>Istanbul Ataturk Airport Interior<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Istanbul<\/a>

<\/br>Istanbul Ataturk Airport Food Court<\/p><\/div>
\nBy this time we were pretty familiar with the prices of things in Turkey, and it seemed everything in the food court was like more than double of what they were sold on the streets.
\nAnd although this is an airport located in Turkey, it only accepted Euros. Want to pay Turkish Lira? Some bad exchange rates were waiting for you.
\n

\"Turkish<\/a>

<\/br>Turkish Airlines A320 At the Gate<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Lufthansa<\/a>

<\/br>Lufthansa A320 (D-AIUH) Arriving<\/br>To and From Frankfurt.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Turkish<\/a>

<\/br>Turkish Airlines B77W(TC-JJN) with Batman VS Superman Livery Taxiing<\/br>Off to New York.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Airways A332 (A7-ACJ) Arriving<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Airways A332 (A7-ACJ) Arriving<\/p><\/div>
\nAt this time, a Qatar Airways crew member approached us, telling how sorry they were for the oversold and for bumping us to Turkish Airlines. Since the agents at check-in told us there might be offers at boarding, we sort of believed her story. It was five minutes later that we each found out she\u2019s looking for somebody else with her not-so-good Mandarin.
\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Airways A332 (A7-ACJ) and Emirates Airlines B77W (A6-EBD) At the Gate<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Boarding<\/a>

<\/br>Boarding Qatar Airways Flight 246<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Ground<\/a>

<\/br>Ground Crew at Istanbul Ataturk Loading Cargo<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Emirates<\/a>

<\/br>Emirates Airlines B77W (A6-EBD) At the Gate<\/br>Of course, this photo was processed.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tail<\/a>

<\/br>Tail of Emirates Airlines B77W (A6-EBD) among Turkish Airlines Fleet<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Seat<\/a>

<\/br>Seat of Qatar Airways A332<\/p><\/div>
\nI\u2019m always fond of the seats on an Airbus 330 (expect the slave ship called Air Aisa X), for they have sort of some default recline in the \u201cupright\u201d position.
\nOne thing I\u2019m not so fond of, there\u2019s no USB ports.
\n

\"Istanbul<\/a>

<\/br>Istanbul Ataturk Airport Sign<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Istanbul<\/a>

<\/br>Istanbul Ataturk Airport Control Tower<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Passing<\/a>

<\/br>Passing Turkish Airlines A333 (TC-JOI) At the Gate<\/br>Arrived from Seoul.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Turkish<\/a>

<\/br>Turkish Airlines Fleet<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Turkish<\/a>

<\/br>Turkish Airlines Fleet<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Turkish<\/a>

<\/br>Turkish Airlines A330 Taking Off<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Landing<\/a>

<\/br>Landing & Takeoff<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"West<\/a>

<\/br>West Istanbul Ataturk Airport<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Planes<\/a>

<\/br>Planes in Line for Takeoff<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Taxiing<\/a>

<\/br>Taxiing at Istanbul Ataturk Airport<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Istanbul<\/a>

<\/br>Istanbul Ataturk Airport Runway Lights<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Turkish<\/a>

<\/br>Turkish Airline A330 in Line for Takeoff<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Istanbul<\/a>

<\/br>Istanbul Ataturk Airport Terminal<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Takeoff<\/a>

<\/br>Takeoff at Istanbul Ataturk Airport<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Takeoff<\/a>

<\/br>Takeoff at Istanbul Ataturk Airport<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Istanbul<\/a>

<\/br>Istanbul Suburb North of Ataturk Airport<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"West<\/a>

<\/br>West Istanbul<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"West<\/a>

<\/br>West Istanbul<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Downtown<\/a>

<\/br>Downtown Istanbul<\/br>One can see the Golden Horn dividing European Istanbul.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Downtown<\/a>

<\/br>Downtown Istanbul<\/br>One can see the Golden Horn dividing European Istanbul.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Istanbul<\/a>

<\/br>Istanbul Old City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Ankara<\/a>

<\/br>Ankara Suburb<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Ankara<\/a>

<\/br>Ankara Suburb<\/p><\/div>
\nMore than forty minutes after takeoff, I was served dinner, which, in Qatar Airways standard, wasn\u2019t bad. The kind lady even consulted me for a few Mandarin words.
\n

\"Dinner<\/a>

<\/br>Dinner Services<\/p><\/div>
\nI picked beef and carrot and egg roll, which tasted good. Again, for a big fan of sweets, that cake\u2019s wonderful. Whatever vegetables beside it, not so good.<\/p>\n

Since I got up very early in the morning, (earliest in the two weeks in Turkey, expect balloon day) I was expectedly sleepy at the moment. After the meal services, I basically slept all the way to Doha. <\/p>\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Route 1 outside Ras Laffan Industrial City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Ras<\/a>

<\/br>Ras Laffan Industrial City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Port<\/a>

<\/br>Port of Ras Laffan Industrial City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"City<\/a>

<\/br>City of Al Khor, Qatar<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Rural<\/a>

<\/br>Rural Qatar<\/br>Dear God I couldn\u2019t find this thing on Google Maps.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Buildings<\/a>

<\/br>Buildings outside Doha<\/br>Dear God I couldn\u2019t find this thing on Google Maps either.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Buildings<\/a>

<\/br>Buildings outside Doha<\/br>Dear God I couldn\u2019t find this thing on Google Maps either.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Residential<\/a>

<\/br>Residential Buildings outside Doha<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Exclusive<\/a>

<\/br>Exclusive Residential Buildings of The Pearl-Qatar<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Exclusive<\/a>

<\/br>Exclusive Residential Buildings of The Pearl-Qatar<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Exclusive<\/a>

<\/br>Exclusive Residential Buildings of The Pearl-Qatar<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Doha<\/a>

<\/br>Doha Suburb<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Downtown<\/a>

<\/br>Downtown Doha<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Final<\/a>

<\/br>Final Approach on Doha Airport<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Airways A333 Parked at Apron<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Runway<\/a>

<\/br>Runway Lights<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Airways Fleet and Doha Airport Terminal<\/br>This shot was misfocused but still looked nice.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Airways Fleet and Doha Airport Terminal<\/p><\/div>
\nAgain, it\u2019s the \u201capron\u201d and \u201cshuttle\u201d combo. Again, Qatar Airways knew to send stairs to the rear so as to expedite the disembarkation.
\nAgain, we were greeted with the hot and humid desert air. #AirconIsGreat.
\n

\"Leaving<\/a>

<\/br>Leaving Qatar Airways A332 (A7-ACJ) From the Rear<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Airways A332 (A7-ACJ) Fuselage and Engine<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Empennage<\/a>

<\/br>Empennage of Qatar Airways A332 (A7-ACJ)<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Doha<\/a>

<\/br>Doha Airport Shuttle Bus<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Airways A388 (A7-APF) At the Gate<\/br>Flying to and from Bangkok.<\/span><\/br>misfocused again, but not bad.<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Airways A388 (A7-APF) At the Gate<\/br>Flying to and from Bangkok.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\nFlight 870 of Qatar Airways will be on the next post.
\nEND<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Time to head back home. It seemed that everything was expedited for the last day, I finished my tour of Eyup and Golden Horn ahead of schedule, my parents finished their visit of Grand Bazaar ahead of schedule,… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,172,2],"tags":[213,211],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1992"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2649,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992\/revisions\/2649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}