en.Wedoany.com Reported - Qatar Airways will resume flights to Canberra, the capital of Australia, in December, but the restoration is not solely aimed at serving the city; rather, it is intended to increase market access to Melbourne Airport (MEL). Originally scheduled to resume in September, the route has been postponed to December 8, when it will be operated by a 354-seat, three-class Boeing 777-300ER, flying four times weekly, with plans to restore daily service by March 2027.

Qatar Airways has operated flights from Doha to Canberra via Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) since 2018, but suspended them in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the route resumes, the stopover will be changed to Melbourne. This operational model exploits a regulatory loophole. Under the rules, Qatar Airways is limited to a maximum of 28 weekly flights to Australia, with destinations restricted to the country's four major airports. Having fully utilized its quota, the airline increases flight numbers by stopping over or extending to regional cities, including Canberra, which are not subject to these frequency limits. Data indicates that the airline has limited interest in serving Canberra itself; between 2018 and 2020, the additional segment via Sydney to Canberra averaged only 38 passengers.

The resumed route operates as Doha-Melbourne-Canberra-Melbourne-Doha. According to the schedule, flight QR988 departs Doha at 8:25 AM, arrives in Melbourne at 5:55 AM the next day, and then stops in Canberra; the return flight QR989 departs Canberra at 12:30 PM, stops in Melbourne, and arrives in Doha at 10:25 PM. Passengers cannot purchase tickets for the Melbourne-Canberra segment alone. Booking data from December 2025 to March 2026 shows that the most popular market for Qatar Airways' round trips to Canberra is Jeddah, with the remaining top five including London, Dammam, Muscat, and Paris.

Looking ahead to April 2027, Qatar Airways will operate six daily direct flights to Australia, including services to Adelaide (ADL), Brisbane (BNE), Perth, and Sydney (SYD). Among these, the flight via Melbourne to Canberra is one of two daily Melbourne services. Meanwhile, Virgin Australia will operate four daily flights from Australia to Doha. The two airlines leverage different schedules to help maximize connecting traffic through Doha; for example, flights from Doha to Melbourne depart at 1:35 AM, 8:25 AM, and 8:20 PM to expand market share and competitiveness.