Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia received the green light to launch

Utilising aircraft wet-leased from Qatar Airways, Virgin Australia is set to commence long-haul flights from Sydney, Brisbane and Perth to Doha from June 2025, followed by Melbourne to Doha in December 2025. Passengers can connect to destinations at Hamad International Airport to destinations across the Qatar Airways network.

In addition, this move will also allow Australian passengers to benefit from a host of increased loyalty earn and redemption opportunities for Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club and Virgin Australia Velocity members.

For staff, there is growth too, with Qatar Airways set to provide secondment opportunities for 20 Virgin Australia pilots and 40 cabin crew in 2025.

All of this follows the Australian Government’s approval of Qatar Airways Group’s 25 per cent investment in Virgin Australia on 27 February 2025 – joining existing majority shareholder Bain Capital.

In Quotes

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Badr Mohammed Al-Meer said:

“Today’s announcement by the ACCC sends a clear signal of the appetite that exists for delivering competition, world-class service and value to Australian passengers.

“It also marks the start of a new chapter in the relationship between our two airlines, and I would like to thank our Virgin Australia colleagues and valued stakeholders for their tireless dedication to our shared ambition to create healthy competition within the local aviation market, as well as our collective commitment to supporting Australian businesses, Australian jobs and the wider economy.”

Virgin Australia Chief Executive Officer, Mr Dave Emerson said:

“This is a defining moment for Virgin Australia and the Australian aviation landscape. The ACCC’s final approval of our deeper strategic partnership with Qatar Airways marks the start of a new chapter for our airline and a world of opportunities for our people and customers. 

“We are pleased to welcome Qatar Airways as not just a strategic partner, but a part owner in Virgin Australia. This reflects a huge vote of confidence from a leading global airline in our business and in Australian aviation more broadly.

Bain Capital Partner, MMrMike Murphy said:

“This important milestone allows the airlines to harness their collective strength and unlock new areas of cooperation for the benefit of Australian consumers. We are delighted to officially welcome Qatar Airways Group as a minority investor in Virgin Australia.”

Now, the services

With Qatar Airways restricted on how many flights it can operate to Austraila, buying part of Virgin Austraila and using them to launch wet-leased services. This is compared to Emirates – who whilst having some more slots, have a partnership with Qantas, allowing a lot of traffic to flow from Australian cities to Dubai.

For Virgin Australia, this will be another attempt at long-haul routes (given that in previous incarnations, they operated Boeing 777-300ERs under the V Australia brand, as well as operating Airbus A330 aircraft internationally), with the airline made up of Boeing single-aisle aircraft (with Embraer’s on the way).