Sydney-Doha route kicks off in contest with Qantas

Flying into Australia under Virgin’s ticker allows Qatar to work around those limitations.

Qatar’s deal with Virgin was approved earlier this year. It came as public backlash for Qantas and the perception of a lack of competition reached fever pitch following revelations the country’s flagship carrier had knowingly sold flights it had already cancelled.

The Qatar long-haul flights are part of Virgin’s strategy, outlined in its IPO documents, to simplify its business “by minimising the complexity and risk to Virgin Australia’s core activities, balance sheet and earnings that long-haul international operations would otherwise entail”.

Private equity owner Bain Capital – which bought Virgin out of administration – hopes to raise $685 million in the airline’s IPO, selling down its holding from 70.2 per cent to about 40 per cent, while Qatar will maintain its stake of nearly 25 per cent. Virgin’s shares are expected to start trading on the ASX by the end of June.

Virgin hopes the lure of Qatar’s international network will also boost its domestic business as global passengers arriving on Qatar flights book onward services through Australia. The alliance will “generate more than $3 billion in economic activity within Australia over the next five years, fuelled by an anticipated surge in international visitors and increased tourism spending” and “create hundreds of new jobs across the country”, it claims.

Flying Boeing 777s, the Qatar planes will offer private suites and lie-flat beds in business class. Elon Musk’s high-speed Starlink Wi-Fi will also feature. To sweeten the deal, Virgin Australia is discounting some fares for travel between October and March 2026.

Dean Long, head of the Australian Travel Industry Association, said that for Australian travellers, the partnership “won’t have a huge impact on price, but there will be greater choice for people flying to Europe”.

And for the global market, “the Virgin flights will make a big difference for international travellers who want to come here”, he said.

“The link with Qatar will also help Virgin in its domestic short-haul competition with Qantas.”

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There are other signs Australia’s aviation wars will intensify after the Virgin IPO. Virgin, which briefly overtook Qantas as top domestic carrier in December, had a 34.4 per cent market share in May, compared with 37.5 per cent by Qantas and 26.4 per cent by Qantas-owned Jetstar, the ACCC said.

On Wednesday, Qantas announced the closure of its Asian low-cost offshoot Jetstar Asia, which will free up 13 Airbus A320 aircraft to be redeployed within Australia, boosting its domestic capacity.

On Thursday, Qantas countered Virgin’s moves by announcing a sale of more than 80,000 discounted first, business and premium economy seats on international flights.

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