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.

“Flight Centre Corporate has 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 next year.”

New Virgin Australia flights available on the five-year wet lease deal with Qatar are expected to commence by mid-2025
 

About Flight Centre Travel Group

The Flight Centre Travel Group is one of the world’s largest travel retailers and corporate travel managers. The company, which is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia, has company-owned leisure and corporate travel business in dozens of countries, spanning Australia, New Zealand, the Americas, Europe, the United Kingdom, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and Asia. ASX listed Flight Centre Travel Group (FLT) also operates the global FCM corporate travel management network, which extends to more than 100 countries through company-owned businesses and independent licensees, along with Corporate Traveller, the flagship business specific to the small-to-medium-sized enterprise sector. For more information, visit fctgl.com.