Ghost Flights: Qatar Airways Flying Planes Almost Empty to Circumvent Australian Regulations

Ghost Flights: Qatar Airways Flying Planes Almost Empty to Circumvent Australian Regulations

Qatar Airways has reportedly been operating ghost flights daily between Melbourne and Adelaide, taking advantage of a unique loophole allowing the airline to operate more flights into Australia.

The current bilateral agreement in place between the two countries allows Qatar Airways to operate up to 28 weekly flights between Doha (DOH) and Australia’s four largest international airports – Sydney (SYD), Melbourne (MEL), Brisbane (BNE), and Perth (PER). However, there is no limit on the number of flights the airline can operate to smaller airports, such as Adelaide (ADL).

This led to Qatar Airways launching its Doha – Melbourne – Adelaide – Melbourne – Doha (QR988/989) service in November 2022. The carrier also operates a daily direct service between Doha and Adelaide (QR914/915), which continues onto Auckland (AKL).

A six-hour stop in Melbourne

Qatar Airways flights between Doha and Adelaide via Melbourne operate to the following schedule:

With a six-hour overnight layover in Melbourne, it is hardly surprising that so few Adelaide-bound passengers opt to travel on this service, especially when a direct option is also available with the same airline.

This has resulted in the very low passenger numbers seen on the Melbourne – Adelaide leg of the journey. The airline does not have the fifth