Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways have welcomed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) interim authorisation of their integrated alliance.

The agreement will allow Virgin to operate flights to Doha with 28 weekly services from Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, connecting passengers via Qatar Airways to over 100 international destinations.

Services are planned to commence in June.

The ACCC has acknowledged that the proposed conduct is likely to result in public benefits, including enhanced products and services, such as increased capacity between Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Qatar.

Virgin Australia’s Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, Alistair Hartley, said:
“The ACCC’s interim authorisation is a significant milestone that reflects the strong consumer and broader public benefits of the integrated alliance. These benefits include new Virgin Australia flights to Qatar, increased capacity, better connections, and downward pressure on airfares from Australia to the Middle East, Europe, and Africa.”

The direct economic benefit of these new services to the Australian economy is estimated to be $3 billion over the proposed five-year authorisation period, driven by increased inbound international visitor spend.

Qatar Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer, Thierry Antinori, said:
“This is a significant step forward in delivering increased benefits to Australian travellers. We are pleased to support Virgin Australia in launching these new services to Qatar and in creating further business opportunities for our travel trade partners. We will continue working closely with Virgin Australia to progress the remaining regulatory approvals.”

Qatar Airways will operate the flights for Virgin Australia using Qatar aircraft and crews. It is expected that the aircraft will be Airbus A350s or Boeing 777-300ERs.