An alliance between Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia has been provisionally approved by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The deal enables the two airlines to market and sell 28 weekly return flights between Doha and Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, reports travelweekly.co.uk.

“We consider that granting interim authorisation now will allow Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia the lead time to undertake the necessary planning discussions, marketing, selling and system alignment in preparation for Virgin Australia to commence flying new services by June 2025,” said ACCC Deputy Chair, Mick Keogh.

As a result of the integrated alliance, Virgin Australia plans to launch Sydney-Doha, Brisbane-Doha and Perth-Doha flights in June next year, with Melbourne-Doha following in December, reports executivetravellers.com.

With the existing Qatar Airways services to Australia, the Sydney-Doha, Brisbane-Doha and Perth-Doha routes will each see two daily flights, up from the current one flight per day. The Virgin flights will be operated on Qatar’s B777 aircraft.