Exclusive: Melbourne to get Virgin’s Doha services last

Judge David Russell in November found the major airline guilty of unlawfully standing Theo Seremetidis down over a direction he made to staff to cease cleaning planes that had landed from COVID-19 “hotspots”. Qantas now faces up to $1 million in penalt…

The news is likely to have significant ramifications for long-haul travel into Australia, given the tie-up with Virgin is a major incentive for customers to book travel with Etihad. Abu Dhabi itself offers onward connections to more than 130 destinations.

In a survey of 1,500 people conducted between 31 May and 4 June, 50 per cent said government should support low-cost carriers to “enable a competitive market and to keep air travel accessible to more Australians”, with 27 per cent opposed and 23 per ce…