Flights to Melbourne: Qatar Airways, Emirates, Etihad, Turkish Airlines?

Qatar Airways is bringing back its A380 for winter season.
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Airlines are jealous. The love for Melbourne. Qatar Airways competing with Emirates, Etihad and Turkish Airlines – gloves are off.

Qatar Airways based in Doha, Qatar is increasing its Doha- Melbourne according to a press release issued today. This flight is competing with Emirates getting passengers through Dubai, Etihad Airways connects in Abu Dhabi. Turkish Airlines may be the most competitive carrier for Qatar Airways with its connection through Istanbul.

Most traffic by Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, or Turkish Airlines is transit. Leisure and business travelers from Europe, India, Africa, and America connect through Turkey or the Gulf region to get to destinations like Australia.

The type of aircraft also plays a role and of course the expected service level. Service is written in bold for all the airlines involved. Bringing the A380 back is on the agenda, but equally the Boening 777-300 remains a favorite among passengers on long-haul flights.

The city on the Bosporus remains the most attractive transit city, especially for those wanting to spend a day or two in Turkey’s largest city. Equally attractive is Dubai. Abu Dhabi and Doha are less known yet, but also gain in attractiveness.

Qatar Airways announced today, that the increase of its flight to Melbourne was arranged with the support of the Victorian Government in Australia. The airline and the Victorian Government signed a strategic agreement to increase connectivity to Melbourne to further boost trade and tourism.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker was a happy man responding to this frequency increase. He said: “Melbourne is the original home for Qatar Airways in Australia, and we are excited to enhance our operations there, as a testament to both strong demand and our deep commitment to Australia.

We look forward to welcoming more passengers to experience our five-star hospitality, as travel to and from Melbourne to many cities worldwide via our Doha hub in Qatar. The launch of the additional daily flight to Melbourne ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ will allow more football fans to travel to attend their respective matches.”

Minister for Industry Support and Recovery, Ben Carroll, said: “Backing international aviation supports our economy and we will continue to work with airlines like Qatar Airways to establish and expand routes into Melbourne to boost local jobs.”

Melbourne Airport Chief Executive Officer, Lorie Argus, said: “There is a huge demand for international travel out of Melbourne, and these extra services couldn’t come at a better time with the soccer World Cup kicking off in November.

It’s exciting to see airlines like Qatar Airways adding more capacity to Melbourne, given they are a global airline and could send their aircraft anywhere it’s a huge vote of confidence in our city. Qatar Airways is already a favorite with passengers heading to the Middle East or Europe and given their partnerships with both Virgin Australia and Qantas, we expect these new flights will prove very popular.”

The additional Melbourne schedule includes an onward leg to Canberra, officially resuming a once-daily connection between Doha and Canberra starting 1 October.

The added daily schedule will be operated by Boeing 777-300ER. The airline will operate a total of 40 weekly flights from Doha to Australia with this network enhancement.

With the newest addition, Qatar Airways alone will operate to six destinations in Australia including Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth, and Sydney. This will exceed Qatar Airways’ pre-pandemic footprint of five gateways in Australia, following the addition of Brisbane services started in early 2020 during the global pandemic.

Qatar Airways has recently announced its strategic partnership with Virgin Australia, which will offer increased travel options and benefits across 35 destinations in its extensive domestic network, as well as to its recently relaunched short-haul international markets, including Fiji and Queenstown, New Zealand.

Qatar Airways has maintained its Australian services throughout the pandemic, whilst launching services to Brisbane in early 2020 to provide essential connectivity.

It has carried over 330,000 passengers in and out of Australia during the pandemic between March 2020 to December 2021 via both commercial flights and special chartered services.

Qatar Airways Cargo has also played a crucial part in supporting Australia’s imports and exports industry during the pandemic, by being one of the very few global airlines that never stopped flying. Currently, Qatar Airways Cargo carries over 1,900 tonnes of cargo to and from Australia per week.

Melbourne is the coastal capital of the southeastern Australian state of Victoria. At the city’s center is the modern Federation Square development, with plazas, bars, and restaurants by the Yarra River. In the Southbank area, the Melbourne Arts Precinct is the site of Arts Centre Melbourne – a performing arts complex – and the National Gallery of Victoria, with Australian and indigenous art.

About the author

Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

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