The skies have cleared on a new alliance between Qatar and Australia that will double the number of Qatar Airways flights between the two destinations. 

Australia’s consumer watchdog gave the go-ahead this week, for the Doha-based carrier and Virgin Australia to launch a new integrated alliance. This follows the Australian Government’s approval of the Qatar Airway Group’s 25% investment in Virgin Australia earlier this year. 

Under the new alliance, Virgin Australia will launch 28 weekly flights between Australia and Doha, all of which will be operated with aircraft under wet lease from Qatar Airways. The first alliance flights will take off from June 2025 from Sydney, Brisbane and Perth to Qatar’s capital. 

At Doha, travellers will be able to continue their journey to more than 100 destinations across the Middle East, Europe and Africa. The new services will also allow travellers to earn and redeem points for Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club and Virgin Australia’s Velocity.  

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Badr Mohammed Al-Meer welcomed approval on the alliance, saying it marks the start of a new chapter for travel between Qatar and Australia. 

“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,” he said. 

Beyond connecting travellers between Qatar and Australia, the new alliance has a range of benefits including:  

Increased tourism to Qatar and the Middle East 

“As soon as Australia’s borders re-opened following the pandemic, Australians were again very eager to travel overseas,” said Australia’s tourism body in a 2024-2029 forecast. 

According to the report, more Aussies were keen to head overseas than travel domestically and by 2023, around 9.98 million residents were returning from short-term international trips – this was 88% of the pre-pandemic level. 

While travel growth has slowed down due to cost-of-living pressures and higher global travel costs, there’s still strong interest amongst Australians to see the world. Fortunately for the Middle East, it’s one of the regions that’s peaking their curiosity. 

Qatar Tourism’s 2024 statistics showed that around 20% of Qatar’s arrivals came from Asia and Oceania, including Australia. This figure is bound to get higher in the coming years thanks to Aussie curiosity in the region and the new alliance flights. 

Of course, the rest of the Middle East is bound to experience a positive ripple effect from the new partnership. Australians are expected to take advantage of Qatar Airways’ extensive network out of Doha which currently connects to 16 countries in the region including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait and more. 

The tourism benefits of the new alliance are already being felt, according to Virgin Australia’s Chief Executive Dave Emerson. 

“Already, we are seeing some of the positive benefits of the partnership, including increased sale activity on airfares between Australia and Europe, the Middle East and Africa thanks to increased competition,” he explained. 

More flights, more local jobs 

The collaboration between Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia will also support a growth in jobs both in Qatar and Australia.

Airline jobs are likely to open as well as airport opportunities including Qatar Airways secondments for 20 Virgin Australia pilots and 40 cabin crew staff. Jobs across Qatar’s wide tourism industry could also open up as new flights prompt extra arrivals and visitors to the destination.