Good news for travellers who have been waiting on the skies to clear. Qatar Airways has restored daily flights to Australia as of today, 1 May 2026, following months of disruption caused by the conflict in Iran.
Sydney, Melbourne and Perth are back on daily services from today, with Brisbane returning to four flights a week from 16 May before stepping up to daily from 16 June. Adelaide joins the daily schedule from 16 June as well, part of a broader network revival that will see Qatar Airways serving more than 150 destinations worldwide by mid September.
For travellers out of Sydney, there is an extra reason to get excited. The QR980 and QR909 services will feature the Airbus A350 fitted with Qatar Airways’ Qsuites business class, one of the most talked about premium products in the sky right now.
Think private suites, lie flat beds and direct aisle access for every passenger. No climbing over your neighbour at 2am somewhere over the Indian Ocean. And if you can hold out until late September, Qatar Airways is also planning to bring its Airbus A380 superjumbo back onto the Sydney route, which signals just how confident the airline is about the Australian market’s recovery.
There is also some welcome flexibility built in for anyone caught up in the disruptions of recent months. Passengers with bookings between 28 February and 15 September 2026 can change their travel dates free of charge to any available flight up to 31 October. Refunds for unused tickets remain on the table too.
Beyond the Australian routes, Qatar Airways is also plotting one of the more intriguing new connections in the region. From 16 June, the airline will operate a Doha to Auckland service with a stopover in Adelaide, with a total journey time of up to 20 hours aboard a Boeing 777-300ER. It is the kind of itinerary that gives Adelaide travellers direct access to both Doha and Auckland in a single journey, and it puts Qatar back in the Trans Tasman market while nonstop services are still on hold.
Now for the part agents need to pass on to their clients. Despite the flights returning, Australia’s Smarttraveller platform is still advising Australians not to travel to Qatar, including for transit, due to ongoing regional instability. That means anyone planning to connect through Doha on the way to Europe, Africa or the Americas needs to be across the government’s current position before they confirm a booking. The situation is being monitored closely and could change, but for now the advisory stands.
Qatar Airways is clearly betting on continued stabilisation. Putting premium aircraft on the Sydney route sends a strong signal about where the airline sees the market heading in the second half of 2026. For travellers and agents alike, the options are back on the table. Just make sure everyone is going in with eyes open.
For more information on Qatar Airways’ current schedule and rebooking options, visit qatarairways.com.
