For long-haul flights, I always used to do an afternoon flight (about three hours in length) from Stockholm to another European capital (usually Paris, Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Zurich) and then a ten or eleven hour overnight flight to Johannesburg. The flights departed between 6pm and 10pm, and I liked being able to sleep away all the hours and arrive mid-morning.
In recent years, however, the flights to European capitals either have very long layovers, or are too expensive, so I have flown Ethiopian or Qatar instead. The layovers are short, but the connections are really awkward. Eight-hour day flights are so boring, and connecting flights leaving at 1am or 2am are torture. The generous luggage allowance on both airlines (2 x 23kg per person plus 2 bags of hand luggage) is lovely, though even I can’t pack that much.
The trip home this time was 2 hours (departing 8am), 9 hours, and then 7 hours, with the last flight leaving at 1.45am. By the time we got to Stockholm at 06.40, we were exhausted.
We flew via Doha this time, and Hamad airport is huge. Not only is it enormous, but it is very expensive. The pharmacy was probably the cheapest shop there. Most of the designer stores at Hamad have their own bakeries and coffee shops.
