A few weeks ago we looked at why Emirates’ wasn’t flying to Berlin. Something similar is in place
between Australia and Qatar, limiting Qatar Airways’ service down under. Let’s take a closer
look at this interesting situation and why Qatar Airways is currently able to fly into Brisbane…
Qatar and Australia’s existing bilateral air services agreement limits Qatar Airways
to 21 flights per week to Australia’s biggest international airports – Sydney,
Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth. Those 21 weekly services amount to
three daily flights. Before the travel downturn, Qatar Airways had prioritized flights to Sydney,
Melbourne, and Perth. The airline also operated a second daily flight to Sydney.
Qatar Airways got around that by operating the second flight as a continuing service to Canberra.
As the air services agreement did not include Adelaide in the group of four airports,
Qatar’s pre-pandemic flights there operated outside the weekly limits.
But the agreement did include Brisbane in the group of four. As a result, Qatar Airways
flights to Brisbane never happened due to the operational restrictions imposed by the air
services agreement. It was not for want of trying. Qatar Airways long wanted to fly to Brisbane.
But last year, COVID-19 and the upheaval around long-haul flying shifted the status quo. Airlines
slashed capacity into Australia as they suspended flights and bunkered down to ride out the chaos.
But Qatar Airways bucked the trend and kept operating many of its flights.
At the same time, the Australian Government loosened rules in air services agreements
to keep essential travel flowing. That allowed Qatar Airways to start flying to Brisbane.
In March 2020, Qatar Airways began operating a thrice-weekly Boeing 777-300ER service between
Doha and Brisbane. Q.R.898 has mostly kept flying since then, with the Boeing 777 departing
Doha on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. When long-haul travel starts to normalize
in the southwest Pacific, the Australian Government is likely to start enforcing the
fine print in its air services agreements. That will put Qatar Airways in a quandary. How might
it cover four airports with the desired daily services when you are only allowed 21 flights?
Qatar Airways could operate the Brisbane flight with a stopover in a secondary Australian
international airport. Say Doha – Adelaide – Brisbane or Doha – Cairns – Brisbane. Like
Qatar’s tag flight between Sydney and Canberra, such flights would get around the capacity limits.
Ideally, Qatar Airways would like Australia and Qatar to revisit their air services agreement.
Last year, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said he was campaigning for extra
capacity to Australia. Calling his airline’s request was quote-unquote “reasonable,” Al
Baker said he would happily send his planes into Brisbane on a permanent daily basis if allowed.
That was 12 months ago, and there has been no shift in the rules.
With flights to Australia now few and far between and hardly anyone allowed
into the country, the Australian Government possibly feels no there
is no reason to change the rules right now. But once flying starts to normalize again,
possibly as soon as next year, Qatar’s capacity constraints into Australia will
come into the spotlight again, and Brisbane flights will be one of the pawns in play.
What do you think Qatar Airways should do with its limit of 21 weekly flights to Australia?
Which cities should the airline serve? Let us know by leaving a comment.