Qatar Airways is one of the few companies to have a permanent offer flights to Australia, including during the hard confinement in Australia. Qatar even launched a new route to Brisbane in early 2020. The carrier has carried more than 330,000 passengers between March 2020 and December 2021. Qatar Airways returned to normal service in spring 2022 with frequencies to Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
It has just announced that it is strengthening its position on the Doha-Melbourne route. From 1 October, frequencies will be increased from one flight to three. two daily flights. This initiative was launched with the signing of a strategic agreement between the Victorian State Government and the management of Qatar Airways. The agreement aims to increase connectivity to Melbourne to boost trade and tourism.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, commented: "Melbourne is Qatar Airways' first homeport in Australia and we are delighted to be expanding our operations here, reflecting both strong demand and our deep commitment to Australia."
Back to Canberra
This second daily Boeing 777-300 flight to Melbourne has also been extended to CanberraAustralia's capital. With this new route, the airline will operate a total of 40 weekly flights to Australia.
Qatar Airways has also formed a strategic partnership with Virgin Australia. This partnership will provide services to 35 domestic and Pacific destinations. These include Fiji and Queenstown in New Zealand.
Australia continues to attract the interest of Gulf carriers. Emirates and Etihad also offer several daily flights. Turkish Airlines recently indicated that it was studying a direct service from Istanbul. This could begin with the delivery of the Airbus A350-1000 or the Boeing 777 X. A non-stop Istanbul-Sydney flight would take 17 hours.
