Qatar Airways Stakes Claim In Virgin Australia As IPO Looms—Takes On Qantas Monopoly

Qatar Airways will take a 25% stake in Virgin Australia as Bain Capital plans an IPO for Australia’s number two carrier.

The Australian government has protected Qantas, keeping airfares high and options limited for Australians, by blocking growth of flights by Qatar Airways. This gives Qatar a stronger foothold into the Australian market.

Virgin Australia has had a number of foreign airlines with significant stakes over the years – including Etihad, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Hainan Airlines’ HNA Group. Meanwhile, Qatar Airways owns stakes in IAG (British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling), Cathay Pacific, LATAM and China Southern.

Together Virgin Australia and Qantas control over 90% of the Australian market. Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines partner Rex has failed in its attempt to take them on. Qatar’s stake remains subject to Australian government approval.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Since I fly intra-Australia every year, I’m happy to see potentially stronger QF competition. I really don’t find the Aussie air fares that bad, but the F add-on is always out of line (and QF only lets me pre-select the last row of narrowbodies even if I pay the quite high price–insufficient status). Good news is, a lot of nonstops with reasonably short fly times, making Y not so bad. And, boarding, and the lack of gate checking, is great.

  2. How dare you write an article about Australian aviation without writing about Delta’s 10 weekly flights to Sydney.

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