Earlier this month, Qatar Airways announced its intention to acquire a minority equity stake in Virgin Australia, but while the relevant authorities dissect the proposal, the two airlines are moving on with developing their partnership. Last Friday, Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways revealed they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on a range of sustainability initiatives.

Sustainability focus waits for no regulator

Globally, airlines are waking up to the fact that much more needs to be done to reach the net zero emissions by 2050 target that almost all have agreed to. Irrespective of the proposed equity stake, the two high-quality carriers are ideally matched to work on sustainability as they bring different perspectives as narrowbody and widebody specialists.

Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways (Qatar) already work together in a strategic partnership that started two years ago. The focus has been on expanding both airlines’ networks, lounges, and loyalty options, so adding the sustainability aspect is an extension of the success they have already achieved.

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Where to start on finding the solutions

The MoU was signed by Qatar Airways Group Senior Vice President of Aeropolitical and Corporate Affairs Fathi Atti and Virgin Australia Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer Christian Bennett earlier this month. This is the first sustainability-focused MoU that VA has signed with an airline partner, which Bennett said reflected the growing and strategic nature of the relationship with Qatar Airways.

“It allows Virgin Australia to harness the scale and expertise of the world’s best airline to tackle a range of sustainability challenges – from the adoption of SAF-related solutions to customer solutions to workforce development.”

Bennett added that VA is looking forward to working with Qatar Airways to enhance and broaden the impact of its efforts to advance environmentally sustainable and inclusive operations.

Photo: Suparat Chairatprasert | Shutterstock

The Qatar Airways’ perspectives

According to ch-aviation, Qatar Airways has a fleet of 267 aircraft, with close to 200 widebody jets, including Airbus A330, A350 and A380 and Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft. The accepted wisdom is that SAF is currently the only viable alternative to reduce emissions on long-haul flights, so Qatar has a vested interest in working on that part of the project.

Photo: Fasttailwind | Shutterstock

Qatar said that the MoU further strengthens the strategic partnership between Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia and cements their shared commitment to achieving common objectives in sustainability. Fathi Atti added that driving progress in environmental sustainability is at the very heart of Qatar Airways’ corporate culture.

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The concrete areas of collaboration to focus on

Areas of focus under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) include:

• aiming to advance the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Low Carbon Aviation Fuel (LCAF)
• environmental management, including waste and energy management
• sustainable procurement
• aviation workforce development
• sustainability-related customer solutions.

The partnership will focus on the certification, production, and commercial uptake of SAF and LCAF in Australia, including through potential collaboration on relevant projects. Both Virgin Australia (VA) and Qatar recognize the importance of developing the human capital of Australia’s aviation-related ecosystem through learning, education and development opportunities.