Qatar Airways ramps up Australian flights

Qatar Airways is rebuilding its global network, including an increase in flights to Australia over the coming months, in the wake of the Iran conflict.

The Gulf carrier – which is both a member of the Oneworld alliance and a Virgin Australia partner – currently lists five flights per week to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

From 1 May, those cities will see a return to the consistency of daily flights, while 16 May puts Brisbane back on the board with four flights per week.

Brisbane toggles up to daily flights from 16 June, as does Adelaide right out of the gate, once again giving travellers in both cities access to a crucial Middle East gateway.

Qatar Airways is welcoming back travellers from Australia to the rest of the world.

At this point, Qatar Airways’ global network will span more than 150 destinations across six continents.

Selected European destinations coming back online from 16 May include Budapest, London Gatwick, Mykonos and Nice.

Joining them on 16 June are Brussels, Duesseldorf, Lisbon, Oslo and Prague.

Major European cities already served by Qatar Airways include Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Birmingham, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Geneva, London Heathrow, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna and Zurich.

All flights to and from Doha continue to operate through dedicated flight corridors established in close co-ordination with the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority.

Sydney-Doha will see an A350 with Qsuites business class until mid-September.

16 June also marks the restart of Virgin Australia’s daily Sydney-Doha and Melbourne-Doha flights, which are operated by Qatar Airways, although Brisbane and Perth remain cancelled up to and including 15 September 2026.

Passengers to and from Sydney should note that through to mid-September, the Sydney–Doha flights QR980/QR909 will feature an Airbus A350 fitted with the highly-regarded Qsuites business class.

The A380, sporting a decent previous-gen business class with direct aisle access and lie-flat beds, is slated to return to Sydney in the second half of September.

Travellers with a confirmed booking with a travel date between 28 February and 15 September 2026 are eligible for complimentary date changes to a new travel date up to 31 October 2026 when rebooking on flights operated by Qatar Airways, subject to availability and fare seasonality.

If your flight is impacted, you also remain eligible for additional fee-free changes until 31 October 2026, or a refund of the unused ticket value.

For booking-related assistance, visit the Qatar Airways FAQ page.

“Passengers with confirmed bookings on a flight in the new schedule will be notified directly with updated flight information,” the airline says, and recommends checking its website or app regularly “and ensuring that contact details are kept up to date.”