Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways
operate between the Middle East and Australia. As previously known, Virgin Australia
will join them later this year in close partnership with Qatar Airways.

The setup is straightforward. Virgin will wet lease Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300ERs and crew to fly between four Australian cities—now including Melbourne—and Doha. Qatar Airways is limited to half of the bilateral traffic rights between the two nations, and the Australian half is unused, hence the appeal.

Qatar Airways can grow its Australian presence via the backdoor by using an Australian carrier, becoming a more competitive force against Emirates and Singapore Airlines.

Related

Wow: Dubai International Overtakes Atlanta As World’s Top Airport In Early 2025

It won’t be first for long.

Up to 10 daily Doha-Australia flights

Qatar Airways’ first Australia-bound service was in 2009. Sixteen years later, the airline and partner Virgin plan up to 10 daily departures in 2025. In 2024, ‘only’ six were available.

Of course, the expansion is because of Virgin, whose Doha debut will take place on June 12, when flight VA1 arrives from Sydney (its first departure to Sydney will be on June 13). Brisbane and Perth follow the same month.

While the trio of routes was previously scheduled, the fourth—Melbourne—wasn’t. Melbourne flights will begin on December 2. By then, Emirates would have had a triple daily non-stop Dubai-Melbourne service since March 30, 2025, replacing its current offering: double daily non-stop and daily via Singapore.

Photo: Steve Worner | Shutterstock

Image: GCMap

Snapshot: December 2, 2025

Consider Tuesday, December 2, during the summer Down Under and ahead of Christmas traffic, as an indication of a day’s activity. It is when Virgin’s fourth Australian route takes off for home, and a day after Qatar Airways has returned to the country’s capital.

On December 2, Doha-Australia departures will be as follows. Virgin’s schedule plugs key gaps for Qatar Airways, increasing two-way connectivity, more daily departure choices, market share, etc.

• 01:30: Virgin to Brisbane (777-300ER)
• 01:40: Virgin to Melbourne (777-300ER)
• 02:45: Qatar Airways to Perth (A380)
• 08:30: Qatar Airways to Melbourne (777-300ER); continues to Canberra (replacing Adelaide)
• 08:45: Virgin to Sydney (777-300ER)
• 20:00: Virgin to Perth (777-300ER)
• 20:25: Qatar Airways to Brisbane (777-300ER)
• 20:25: Qatar Airways to Sydney (A380)
• 20:45: Qatar Airways to Adelaide (A350-900)
• 21:00: Qatar Airways to Melbourne (777-300ER)

Photo: Steve Worner | Shutterstock

Where passengers go

In the 12 months to October 2024, examining booking data shows that approximately 94% of all Qatar Airways’ Australian traffic connects to another flight in Doha. The phenomenal proportion is no surprise.

Obviously, more people traveled between the UK and Australia than anywhere else. The traffic between them was two and a half times that of Italy-Australia, the second most popular country pair, followed by Germany, Greece, and Spain.

Photo: Carlos Yudica | Shutterstock

The top 10 city origins and destinations were as follows. Perhaps surprisingly, London-Adelaide was first, possibly aided by fewer flight options to the South Australian capital. At the airport level, London Heathrow-Perth was number one.

• London-Adelaide
• London-Perth
• London-Melbourne
• London-Brisbane
• London-Sydney
• Athens-Melbourne
• Beirut-Sydney
• Athens-Sydney
• Dublin-Perth
• Manchester-Perth