The approval from the ACCC on the Virgin Australia deal with Qatar Airways will see Virgin Australia add new connections to Doha from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, on Qatar aircraft via a wet lease arrangement, from where 107 new connections would be made to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Flight Centre Corporate Global COO Melissa Elf said the move would bring about stronger competition and capacity, in turn bolstering choice and affordability in travel for Aussie corporates and holidaymakers.
“FCM Travel and Corporate Traveller have been actively calling for more international capacity and competition to our shores, so we’re pleased to see this welcomed by Australia,” Ms Elf said.
“The approval of the deal will support the recovery of our international visitor economy, and strongly contribute to corporate travel recovery.
“It will not only make travel to the Middle East and Europe more affordable for our corporate travellers, but it will importantly see inbound benefits to Australian trade and tourism.
“Those extra flights will certainly have an impact on international travel out of Australia, particularly to Europe, which has generally been slower to return to pre-pandemic capacity, and has seen higher airfares as a result.”
Ms Elf said we were seeing a similar example play out on flights into the U.S. and China currently, proving there was a direct correlation between regions that were adding and welcoming airline capacity and the cost of travel decreasing.
“We’re welcoming several new routes, airlines and carriers between Australia to the U.S. and China over the coming weeks, and we’re seeing this drive down the cost of international fares to those destinations, and it’s boosting the volume of bookings as a result,” she said.
“Not only will the approval of this deal impact international travel, but the wet lease arrangement should also free up aircraft to better service the domestic market.
“A strong and competitive airline industry is good for everyone, so we’re confident this will mean cheaper fares and more travel destinations for Australians from mid year.”
