Virgin Australia relaunches long-haul international flights, sort of

The partnership between Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia has just become a bookable reality, with Virgin opening reservations on Thursday for 28 new weekly services to Doha.

These flights are from Sydney, Brisbane and Perth for travel from June 2025. Melbourne-Doha will begin later in the year.

Virgin business class passengers will have access to Qatar Airways’ Qsuite, named the world’s best business class at this year’s World Airline Awards.

Though final regulatory approval has yet to rubber stamp the offering, bookings are subject to either refunds or rebooking if things don’t go to plan. That appears unlikely at this stage, with Qatar’s proposal to take a 25 per cent shareholding in Virgin Australia looking all but finalised.

Should it all go as envisaged, this puts Virgin Airlines in direct competition with Qantas’ international operations – Australian customers can book flights to more than 100 international destinations including Europe and the UK via Doha.

Virgin is offering some competitive introductory prices on the flights, on sale until January 20.

They include Sydney-London for $1982 return, Sydney-Rome for $1827 return and Brisbane-Paris return for $2032.

“This partnership is a critical piece in Virgin Australia’s long-term strategy”, says Virgin Australia chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka (centre).

In 2023, Qatar Airways was blocked from adding extra flights into Australia by the Australian government. A year later, Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia have what is called a “strategic partnership” which gives Qatar’s customers Virgin’s reach into Australian and Pacific airports while working the other way for Virgin.

It’s a landmark moment for Virgin Australia whose international wings were clipped when it collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Virgin still flies internationally to Tokyo, Japan (though these flights will cease in February) and Queenstown in New Zealand, plus Bali, Fiji, Vanuatu and Samoa.

Virgin Australia’s Boeing 777-300ER service to Los Angeles was a victim of the airline’s voluntary administration. When the US-based Bain Capital purchased the airline, it axed the unprofitable service and three of the airline’s 777s were taken up by Qatar .

The Virgin Australia flights to Doha will operate on the same model aircraft (though not the same actual planes Virgin previously flew) and while being “operated” by Virgin Australia, the flights will be on Qatar aircraft with airline’s cockpit and cabin crews onboard.

This arrangement is called a “wet lease” – under which one airline, in this case Virgin, pays another, being Qatar, to run their flights for them.

Virgin Australia chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka says: “This is a huge win for Australian travellers which brings more value and choice for passengers wanting to fly internationally. Through this partnership Virgin Australia becomes stronger, improving our ability to compete domestically – which is great news for Virgin Australia, our people and consumers.

“For Virgin Australia this gives us the ability to start long haul flying, which we have not been able to do over the past four and a half years. Our 28 new weekly services to Doha will open up a world of opportunity for those wanting to travel overseas, with more passengers able to connect to over 100 destinations around the world on Qatar’s network.

“This also creates the potential for more jobs and promotional opportunities for our Virgin Australia team as we increase domestic flying to accommodate passengers connecting from an expanded international network.

“This partnership is a critical piece in Virgin Australia’s long-term strategy and a huge vote of confidence in Australian aviation, further strengthening Virgin Australia’s long-term competitiveness and growth of the aviation industry in Australia.”

See virginaustralia.com

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