Qatar Airways has come up with an interesting way to celebrate the launch of its hard-fought expansion to Australia’s key gateway cities by offering passengers flying to or from Australia free food and drink vouchers for their layover at Doha Hamad International Airport.
The airline is slated to add new flights to Australia from June 12 with the launch of an additional flight between Doha and Sydney, before adding a further flight to Brisbane on June 19 and an extra service to Perth on June 25.
In November, the airline will then add an additional flight to Melbourne as part of its partnership with Virgin Australia, which was recently given the final nod of approval by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Technically, the extra flights are being run by Virgin Australia to get around a block by the Australian government from Qatar Airways operating more than its allocation of weekly flights to the key gateway cities of Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth.
However, Virgin Australia doesn’t actually have any long-haul aircraft, so the carrier will wetlease Qatar Airways to operate the services on its behalf. From a passenger perspective, the flights will be like any other Qatar Airways flight, but on paper, they are simply being hired by Virgin Australia.
Whether a customer booked their ticket through Qatar Airways or Virgin Australia, they just need to show their boarding pass at one of more than 50 dining options to take advantage of the free food and drink offer.
Here’s how the offer works. Customers traveling on any Qatar Airways or Virgin Australia flight to or from Australia can present their boarding pass at any of the concessions taking part in the deal to redeem up to US $20 in free food and drink.
To participate in this offer, customers will need to have their Privilege Club membership number printed on the boarding pass, so you’ll need to sign up before obtaining your boarding pass.
The voucher can be redeemed at around 50 outlets across Doha Hamad International Airport, but there are a few exceptions. Popular brands, including Starbucks and Joe & the Juice, are not participating, and the vouchers can’t be redeemed at La Vita Café or the Louis Vuitton Lounge, which is located within The Orchard premium lounge complex.
The offer will run for 12 months, from June 12, 2025, to June 11, 2026, and can be used on any Qatar Airways flight to or from Australia – it doesn’t have to be one of the additional flights operated by Virgin Australia.
After receiving several knockbacks from the Australian government to increase its flying rights to gateway cities, Qatar Airways came up with an innovative solution to circumvent the rules by acquiring a 25% stake in Virgin Australia.
The investment was reliant on Virgin Australia relaunching long-haul international flights that were abruptly ended at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those international flights would be from Australia’s four gateway cities to Doha.
Last month, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission gave final approval for the joint venture to go ahead after concluding that the additional flights would be to the benefit of consumers.
