Qatar Airways partnership with Virgin Australia

Qatar Airways partnership with Virgin Australia Written by Mark Smith. Published on 12th May, 2022. Category: Travel News

A recent surprising announcement has passengers travelling to or from Australia excited, with Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia entering into a codeshare partnership from mid 2022. Both airlines are touting the agreement as enormously beneficial for their passengers as well as ensuring continued growth while maintaining standards for the carriers.

So what exactly does this mean for you…

More Destinations

Passengers travelling from the UK already have the option of departing from London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, and Edinburgh with up to 11 departures a day, and offer connections through their hub in Doha to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide, but with the new agreement between Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia, this will extend the reach to a further 35 destinations on the domestic network.

Qatar Airways passengers will also have access to Virgin Australia’s recently relaunched short-haul international markets, including Fiji and Queenstown, New Zealand.

So, if you have family and friends outside the major cities or you’re interested in visiting some of Australia’s best tourist destinations such as Broome, Cairns, Hobart, Alice Springs, or the Gold Coast, as well as New Zealand or Fiji, you will now have the ability to.

More Security

The agreement between Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways will enable passengers to visit destinations outside of the major cities of Australia seamlessly, all on one ticket. This may not sound like a big benefit but it will mean a very significant difference when connecting to a domestic flight. By having all the flights on the same ticket, if one of your flights is delayed the airline is responsible for placing you on the next available flight to get you to your final destination.

Previously, if you miss your domestic flight due to your international flight being delayed, you would not be protected and would need to purchase an entirely new domestic ticket.

More Points

Fantastic news for frequent flyers, the partnership will also include reciprocal loyalty benefits allowing Qatar Airways Privilege Club members to earn and redeem Avios when flying on Virgin Australia, with similar benefits for Velocity members when travelling on Qatar Airways’ services. Privilege Club and Velocity members will also enjoy a wide range of other unique benefits, depending on status tier, such as complimentary lounge access, complimentary extra baggage allowance, priority check-in, priority boarding, and priority baggage delivery when flying respectively on Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club recently enhanced its programme through its partnership with Avios, significantly expanding accrual and redemption opportunities for its members with partner airlines such as British Airways making it even better value.

More Luxury

Voted the ‘World’s Best Airline’ 2 years in a row as well as the ‘World’s Best Business Class’ for 5 consecutive years at the 2021 Skytrax industry awards, Qatar Airways are an amazing choice for travellers between the UK and Australia or New Zealand. With the revolutionary ‘QSuite’ business class seat, spectacular business class lounge facilities, and the first global airline in the world to achieve the prestigious 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating by Skytrax, passengers can now experience the Great Southern Land and the Land of the Long White Cloud in comfort with exceptional service.

It also means that Qatar Airways business class passengers can make use of Virgin Australia lounges in several locations where there were previously no facilities.

The partnership between Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways confirms the quality of both airlines and their strong relationship in providing exceptional flight options for people looking to travel between Europe and Australasia.