Virgin reveals aircraft and timetable for new Qatar Airways-operated flights to Doha
Virgin Australia has revealed what aircraft Qatar Airways will operate on new flights to Doha and what that will mean for travellers.
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Virgin Australia has revealed Boeing 777-300ER aircraft will be used on new flights to Doha operated by Qatar Airways, but only some will be fitted with the popular Q suite product.
New daily flights out of Sydney, Brisbane and Perth to Doha are due to begin in June next year, and from Melbourne in December 2025, subject to regulatory approvals.
Virgin Australia will market and sell the flights to be operated by Qatar Airways aircraft and crew in what’s known as a wet lease arrangement.
In an application to the International Air Services Commission for the allocation of 28 flights a week to Qatar, Virgin Australia said the 777s would be configured with either 354 or 412 seats.
Executive Traveller editor David Flynn said the aircraft fitted with 354 seats included 42 enclosed Q suites but the 777s with 412 seats had the older business class configuration.
“While still being lie-flat, these are angled beds arranged in a 2-2-2 layout lacking both privacy and at-seat storage,” he said.
There was no first or premium economy cabin on the aircraft with the remainder of the seats, in a 3-3-3 economy format, albeit with a relatively generous 84cm of seat pitch.
Flynn said the timetable for the new flights was complementary to the existing Qatar Airways’ schedule from the major airports.
Sydney, Brisbane and Perth would all see early afternoon departures for the Virgin Australia-branded flights, compared to Qatar Airways’ late night departures.
Flights from Sydney would leave at 2.50pm and arrive into Doha just before 11pm local time.
Heading in the other direction, the service would depart Doha at 9.15am and land in Sydney at 6.15am.
From Brisbane the new Virgin Australia flight would take off at 3.10pm, and the return leg would arrive about 10.45pm.
And the extra Perth service would leave at 3.20pm, with the returning flight scheduled to land at 11.55am.
“The schedule includes the return of the flagship VA1 flight number (for Sydney-Doha), which used to be assigned to Sydney-Los Angeles until March 2020,” said Flynn.
“Virgin Australia has yet to sort out lounge access at Australian airports for its business class passengers and Velocity frequent flyers, but this will be very high on the to-do list.”
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission last week issued an interim authorisation for the wet lease arrangement, with Qatar to allow Virgin to start selling tickets on the services.
The deal remains subject to final approvals from the ACCC and the Foreign Investment Review Board.
Virgin was expected to open the flights for bookings next week, with some attractive fares likely to be offered to woo customers.
The airline has signed a court-enforceable undertaking for the ACCC that in the event the flights do not get the necessary approvals, any ticketholders will be granted a refund or re-accommodated.
Providing the flights do get the nod, they will mean double daily services to Doha from Brisbane, Sydney and Perth, and three times a day from Melbourne.
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Originally published as Virgin reveals aircraft and timetable for new Qatar Airways-operated flights to Doha
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