Qatar to acquire stake in Virgin Australia, boost international flights

Virgin Australia will launch flights from Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney to Doha in Qatar, connecting into Qatar Airways' global network, subject to a greenlight from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Qatar plans to lease aircraft to Virgin from mid-2025, allowing Virgin to enter the long-haul international market.

The airlines said it would open-up more than 100 new connecting itineraries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Australian travellers.

Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said the partnership would strengthen Virgin's ability to compete in the local market, offering more choice and better value for consumers.

"Qatar Airways has been a valued codeshare partner of Virgin Australia since 2022. This investment by the world's best airline will deepen an already strong partnership by bringing critical scale and the best industry expertise to support our long-term competitiveness and growth," Ms Hrdlicka said.

The proposed new long-haul services between Australia and Doha would generate $3 billion to the Australian economy through incremental visitor flows over the next five years, Ms Hrdlicka said.

"I am delighted that our closer relationship allows us to put our 'toe in the water' regarding long-haul international, as well as the ability to deepen other areas of existing cooperation, including between our respective loyalty programs and code sharing arrangements," she said.

Qatar Airways Group CEO Badr Mohammed Al-Meer said it would help "raise the bar" in competition for Australian customers.

"This agreement will also help support Australian jobs, businesses and the wider economy," he said.

Qatar Airways is one of the world's largest airlines and earlier this year was awarded the world's best airline by Skytrax for the eighth time.

Investor Bain Capital acquired Virgin Australia in 2020 after Virgin Australia went into voluntary administration.