Several days ago, I wrote about some great news for air travelers, Qatar Airways, and Virgin Australia, which will see expanded long haul capacity in the country. I wanted to provide an update, as the proposed schedule for these flights has now been published.
Continue reading: Qatar Airways Doubles Australia Flights Thanks To Virgin Australia
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
This is all happening as a result of the Australian government's (arguably corrupt) refusal to allow Qatar more flights in its own right, while never giving any reason for its decision apart from "national interest". The backlash from the public was fierce, with questions being raised about the Australian government's cozy relationship with Qantas. So approving this may be the government's way of saving face ... on the other hand it still has a cozy relationship with Qantas, so there's the chance that the Australian government will find some way to reverse its "interim" decision, possibly after next year's election to minimise political damage.
Crazy how Qatar has to utilise a loophole just to increase flights because Qantas has such an iron fist on the government.
It makes no sense that Qatar couldn't increase flights when no other airline flies between the two countries.
And Qantas sure treats its One world Partner unfairly
Beautiful. Gorgeous. Ingenious. More choices for Aussie travellers disillusioned by Qantas
If I want to book one of these flights with points, I'd go through Virgin Australia? When are they on sale?
"Corrupt" is a bit of a stretch, but there's no doubt that Qantas throwing around Chairman's Club memberships and the cost relationship between the current Prime Minister and their former CEO certainly went a long way towards getting them what they wanted.
I guess it all comes down to whether Australian customers will continue to fly the carrier in which many of them are either direct or indirect investors, or if they'll use an airline owned by the totalitarian government of a theocratic state that only recently evicted a whole lot of Hamas terrorists they'd been sheltering within their borders. Personally, I'd swim to Europe before I flew Qatar Airways.
"Personally, I'd swim to Europe before I flew Qatar Airways."
Awesome, more inventory open for others! Love Qatar, and their excellent service/network!
Say what you will about Delta. But the Delta/VA joint venture days were nice since VA arguably had the best TPAC product for Oceania. I remember them very fondly since they were my first ever flight to Australia.
I can only hope this means that VA is on track to more financial stability and has plans of growth and returns to US flights.
Yes, you’d use Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program. There’a no word yet on when they’ll go on sale.
Just to be clear, at least three bodies were involved in the recent approval processes for Qatar flights.
Two years ago, Qatar Airways was refused permission to expand its bilateral agreement with Australia to land more flights. The refusal came from the Minister for Transport, who approves these agreements.
In the most recent case, the application to fly to Doha is by Virgin Australia, which will wet-lease Qatar Airways aircraft. The approval of this arrangement and consideration of any anti-competitive effect lies with the ACCC - The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is an independent Commonwealth statutory authority established in 1995. Its role is to administer and enforce the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and other legislation, promoting competition, fair trading and regulating national infrastructure for the benefit of all Australians.
The 25% shareholding by Qatar Airways of Virgin Australia has to be approved by the FIRB — The Foreign Investment Review Board is a non-statutory advisory body established in 1976 to advise the Treasurer and the Government on Australia's Foreign Investment Policy. So the decision in this case is the Treasurers.
Three different bodies doing three different things, some with independence from government, and some part of the government. Part of the admittedly imperfect set of checks and balances that supports good government.
You can support as many state sponsors of terrorism as you like. If you want to travel with the national airline of a country that holds foreign workers as virtual indentured slaves, then be my guest. If it doesn't bother you that they imprison gay men for being gay, go right ahead and enjoy the service. I won't be joining you, because I have ethics.
Nobody cares Pete. This is an aviation blog, all we care about is travel and Qatar have one of the best offerings in the world when it comes to flight meals, seats, in-flight service and schedule frequency.
It's fine to have that view, as long as you don't turn a blind eye to, for example, Qantas' questionable ethics (illegally sacking workers, deliberately employing a huge chunk of its workforce on overseas contracts so it doesn't have to pay them as much, deliberately selling flights that have been cancelled, etc, etc). If you're being consistent, either you're not flying Qantas, or you're drawing an arbitrary line between ethics violations that are "acceptable" and those that are not -- in which case you should accept it when others' arbitrary lines are different from yours.
Not “arguably” corrupt… DEFINITELY corrupt!
And I am Australian, I can tell you
Actually, plenty of people care... In fact, people like you flipping out whenever it's brought up shows that you care more than you might think you do as well. If you didn't then you wouldn't have bothered replying.
Utter nonsense. The backlash wasn't "fierce" - most people showed no interest whatsoever and a lot of the public won't even know this happened.
You seem to be confusing the "chronically online" population with the general public.
Not to mention they absolutely did give multiple reasons. You can disagree with it if you are one of the people who think money is more important than morals or Qatar sexually assaulting numerous Australian women is no big deal (no need to feel embarrassed and hide it, you'd be in the majority), but claiming they gave no explanation beyond vaguely stating "national interest" is a flat out lie.
This article isn't reporting the story correctly.
Regulators haven't given any approval for the arrangement - the first decision on that will be in February.
However, since VA requested a long lead time to enable sales to make it viable, the one thing they have agreed to allow sales to commence - but with a whole bunch of requirements to protect consumers in case it doesn't go ahead as requested. So all the announcement is is that sales can commence, with consumer protection.
No approval or anything else regarding the request itself.
Given the departure times, I don't expect these new departures from Australia to be quite as popular as the existing ones, especially to Europe. The flights Australia leaving around 10pm are ideal—the long overnight flight to Doha and then a perfect noon or early afternoon arrival into Europe.
These new flights leave in the middle of the day, the long leg is during the day, and then you land in Europe at 7am, too early for check-in at most accomodation.
So, I would expect the new flights to have better award availability than the existing flights
Avoiding airlines because of your "ethic" is nonsense and will end up being hypocritic. You'd just run out of airlines to fly, and after realising it you would make exceptions so you can travel.
Have any European countries apologised for what they did to their former colonies, what about Japan? The US for the wars in the 20th Century? Even many of that "former colonies" have a dictatorial leadership and suppresses their people. Not to mention how China and Russia actively do all that stuff to this day.
Just because you avoid some carriers due to their home country doesn't make you any more ethical. It's just a hypocrisy...
I am wondering, if there will be any OW status recognition on the flights, as they are VA marketed. Is there a QR codeshare number on them?
Will any of the ME3 ever serve WSI? Was hoping some expansion would go there to fit with banks overnight
I am wondering what implications will this arrangement have within the Oneworld Alliance.
All while forcing Virgin to drop Singapore Air codeshares to Europe, Middle East and Africa and Etihad as a partner entirely. Really helping with competition!
Doubtful since they are VA flights merely using wet leased Qatar metal and crews. In that sense they are not Qatar flights at all.
You need to ammend the article to reflect that they swapped the launch for Perth and Melbourne around
This story still hasn't been corrected.
It is not accurate to say the proposal has interim approval. Only the sales of flights has been permitted, on VA's request, but with full consumer protection given the proposal has no approval.
Do you really think this is good... Many other other carriers planning to come back to the Australian market, or those finding it marginal will likely over time withdraw, as its hardly a level playing field with Qatar Airlines controlling its own airport (illegal in Australia for an airline) its own regulator (impossible in any Western country), its own government funding it (agenda isn't about revenue but to normalise their values to other countries) to say nothing of sitting on a refinery... so once Qatar has ripped a huge hole in Australian carriers like Qantas, driven out all the other carriers, much like our car industry, we shouldn't be surprised we become a basket case economy with massive airfares in time because our dollar will be worth nothing... because nothing is on shore... VA should be flying this themselves.....
Best aviation news in a long time for Australian travellers. We have been taken for a ride for far too long. Qantas has the worst service at the astronomical fares. Their crew is not only tired but also arrogant not fit for service. Just can't wait to see these big boys Qatar and Emirates fairly compete.
It is essential to emphasize that both Qatar Airways and Qantas are prominent members of the Oneworld airline alliance, which fosters cooperation and connectivity among its members. This affiliation opens up numerous opportunities for synergy between the two airlines. Qantas is well-positioned to establish direct flights to Doha, Qatar's capital, which would significantly enhance travel connectivity for passengers traveling between Australia and the Middle East. Such routes could not only streamline operations for both airlines but also provide travelers with more seamless options for international journeys. Furthermore, Qantas boasts an extensive history and experience in operating long-haul flights, making it a reliable choice for travelers seeking comfort and efficiency on international routes. This potential collaboration could lead to improved service offerings and an overall better travel experience for customers of both airlines.