Virgin Australia Returns International Flights As Qatar Buys 25% Stake

Months of speculation has now come to a close as Qatar Airways announces its intention to take a 25% minority stake in Virgin Australia. The two carriers have maintained a solid relationship for years, with internal discussions indicating Qatar is keen to take on a much larger chunk of Australia’s second largest airline.

The exciting news from this arrangement comes with Virgin Australia revealing plans launch VA flights from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to Doha by mid-2025. The service is set to kick off as a wet lease, whereby Qatar Airways provides the aircraft, crew and catering on flights to their Doha hub while Virgin Australia picks up the bill.

This comes as no surprise, with government rejecting Qatar’s plans for 21 additional flights into Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. But as what will now be Virgin Australia flights, they expected to glide through regulatory approval. It would come as no surprise if Qatar actually ends up selling most of the passenger seats on these flights.

Furthermore, Qatar currently operates three former Virgin Australia Boeing 777’s, which are all equipped with original Virgin ‘The Business’ seats. We’re hoping these jets operate Virgin Australia’s Doha services, as the hard product is brilliant.

The expanded codeshare and collaboration will also provide access to a greater range of international destinations with improved schedules and frequencies, increased earn and redemption opportunities for members of Velocity and Privilege Club.

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka explained the partnership brings the missing piece to Virgin Australia’s long-term strategy.

“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.”

“I am super proud of the entire team at Virgin Australia. Together they have done a wonderful job getting Virgin Australia back into a healthy, long term competitive position that has attracted the world’s best airline as a prospective investor,” Ms Hrdlicka added.

The 25% Qatar minority stake and wet leasing agreement is subject to approvals from the Foreign Investment Review Board and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.