Qatar Airways has been flying almost empty large passenger jets between Melbourne and Adelaide in Australia on a daily basis since November last year.
The ‘ghost flight’- QR988 flight- is flown between the two Australian cities to exploit a loophole out of Australia’s strict aviation laws.
Qatar Airways currently connects its hub at Doha’s Hamad International Airport with five Australian cities– Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.
Why is Qatar Airways Doing That?
Qatar Airways is only allowed 28 flights a week into Australia’s four major airports namely Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth. Therefore, given the available quota, it flies one flight daily into each of the four airports.
But there is a twist. Though the rules apply to the four major airports, there is no such limits on how many flights can be operated to “non-major airports.”
The Doha-based airline started an additional daily non-stop flight between Doha and Melbourne in November 2022, utilizing a loophole in Australian aviation rules.
But Adelaide is not considered a major airport. So, using the loopholes, Qatar runs an extra flight from Doha to Melbourne, with Adelaide as the designated point of departure and arrival in Australia.
Flying the 354-seater Boeing 777-300s from Doha to Adelaide via Melbourne allows Qatar to get around its ban on having more than 28 flights a week to the major airports.
Why the Flight Goes Empty
Though Qatar Airways can exploit the loophole flying between Doha and Adelaide, with a layover in Melbourne, the airline is not permitted to sell tickets on the domestic route between Melbourne and Adelaide.
The airline can only carry passengers from Adelaide to Doha and vice versa on two-legged route between the two countries.
While flying from Doha, the flight reaches Melbourne at 11:30 pm. While most passengers disembark from QR988 flight in Melbourne, those continuing to Adelaide have to endure a lengthy six-hour layover at Tullamarine Airport’s international terminal before the flight’s departure at 5:35 am, due to the curfew timings at Adelaide airport from 11 pm to 6 am.
However, most passengers bound for Adelaide chose the separate Adelaide-Doha daily non-stop flight to avoid the six-hour layover.
While on the trip back to Doha, the flight departs from Adelaide daily at 11:40 am, lands in Melbourne after an hour and a half flight offers a shorter 1 hour and 45 minutes layover in the international terminal before starting the non-stop journey to Doha.
The passenger numbers on the journey leg from Melbourne to Adelaide are typically minimal, sometimes in single digits or even carrying no passengers at all after the overnight layover.
Move Has Irked Australians
Qatar’s use of “ghost flights” have irked many in Australia. Australia’s Department of Infrastructure and Transport placed a condition on the timetable approval “for the flights on this route that they must be available for sale for passengers and cargo arriving and departing from Adelaide”, Catherine King, spokesperson for the transport minister, said, according to The Guardian.
According to reports in November 2022, Australia’s Qantas Airline tried blocking Qatar Airways’ growth in the country.
In the past, Qatar Airways operated an additional flight between Doha and Sydney by designating Canberra as the final destination, using the same provision, a report in Aviation A2Z said.
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