Virgin Australia has resumed operations in the Middle East with a new route to Doha, Qatar. The airline is partnering with Qatar Airways, which holds equity in Virgin Australia. Previously, Virgin flew to Abu Dhabi in collaboration with Etihad. Due to restrictions on its Australian traffic rights, Qatar Airways has leased 777-300ERs and crew to Virgin Australia, allowing it to serve Doha using unused Australia-Qatar traffic rights.
On June 12, Virgin inaugurated daily flights from Sydney to Doha. Flight VA1 arrives in Qatar at 22:50, providing connections across Europe after midnight. The first round-trip was conducted by a seven-year-old aircraft, A7-BET. This service adds to Qatar Airways' daily flights from Sydney, making it the highest frequency since 2020. Additional routes from Melbourne and Perth will commence later this year.
United Airlines made history on June 14 by launching flights from Newark to Nuuk, Greenland. This twice-weekly summer service is operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 8 and will run until September 23. The new route was facilitated by infrastructure developments at Nuuk Airport, including a runway extension.