It’s no secret that Qatar Airways is trying to get a stronger hold on the Australian aviation market. It’s been years that the Doha-based airline has been trying to get its flight allowance increased to operate larger volumes of flights. To achieve this goal it has even recently announced a significant investment in Virgin Australia which will start its own wet-leased long range flights. Latest news though has Qatar Airways ready to resume flights to another Australian city.
Qatar Airways Returns to Canberra For The First Time Since 2020
This is quite a big deal for Qatar Airways which has been playing catchup with Emirates in Australia since its founding. Australia is a key strategic market middle eastern super-connector airlines such as Qatar Airways. The country relies heavily on air travel and the user base is both used to traveling frequently by plane and has a good amount of disposable income to spend on holidays abroad. Not only, most Australians are expats or sons of expats meaning that they have strong ties with some other country. Luckily for middle eastern carriers many have ties with European countries placing Qatar Airways and its peers in the perfect location for a stopover between the two continents.
What makes Canberra quite the big deal is that it represents the first Qatar Airways network expansion in Australia for quite some time. Doha to Canberra flights will be, right off the bat, a daily direct, but not non-stop service. What I mean by that is the Qatari national carrier will operate flights from Doha to Australia’s Capital Territory (ACT) making a stop en-route in Melbourne International Airport.
The route isn’t a total novelty for the airline as it used to operate it prior to 2020 and is, therefore, making a return now as conditions are finally right. The Australian capital re-enters the Qatar Airways route network as its sixth destination in the country following:
- Sydney (SYD)
- Melbourne (MEL)
- Brisbane (BNE)
- Adelaide (ADL)
Qatar Airways’ Flagship For Its Returning Doha to Canberra Flights
Qatar Airways Doha to Canberra flights will operate as an extension to the standing Doha to Melbourne daily flight QR988. The flight will make a 1 hour 45 minute stop in Melbourne to offload and onboard passengers before flying onwards to Australia’s capital.
Flight QR988 is, as the other two services QR operates daily to Melbourne, a Boeing 777-300ER service. Therefore, Canberra will be served by the Middle Eastern carrier’s flagship aircraft featuring its best premium cabins.
Flights will operate following the schedule below:
| Flight Number | Departure Airport | Airport Code | Departure Time | Arrival Airport | Airport Code | Arrival Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QR988 | Doha | DOH | 08:30 | Melbourne | MEL | 05:55+1 |
| QR988 | Melbourne | MEL | 07:40 | Canberra | CBR | 08:50 |
| QR989 | Canberra | CBR | 13:30 | Melbourne | MEL | 14:25 |
| QR989 | Melbourne | MEL | 16:10 | Doha | DOH | 22:30 |
Finally, Qatar Airways intends to relaunch its flights to Canberra in December 2025. Despite the launch date being a year away (at the moment of writing this post) tickets are already available for sale on the airline’s website.
QSuites On Doha Canberra Flights (But Always Be Prepared)
Qatar Airways also announced it intends to use its most premium product on the new Doha to Canberra flights (via Melbourne). QSuites will be the default business class cabin offered on these new flight operated by the airline’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. They are setup in a 1-2-1 layout offering, passengers traveling in 2 or 4 to either enjoy the honeymoon suite experience or the possibility of opening the partitions and enjoy a space for 4.
However, frequent flyers already know what I am about to say, you need to always be a little careful when booking flights with Qatar Airways looking to experience QSuites. What I mean is that the airline is, unfortunately, renowned to switch aircraft and configurations with little to no notice. You might, therefore, find yourself traveling on something very different to a QSuite. The airline itself states that it can for operational reasons switch planes in the fine print in the route announcement.
By December 2025, QSuites or no QSuites, aboard the 777s you are almost certain to get access to complimentary high-speed internet as the airline is rolling out on an ever growing number of the planes Starlink connectivity services.