Jake Nelson

The revelation will add to scepticism that the deal for Qatar to acquire a stake in Virgin is being done to circumvent rules preventing it from flying more services out of Australia.

The issue with the airline’s South Korean booking website last week resulted in some trans-Tasman economy fares as far out as September 2025 going for as low as 6,100 Korean won (under $7), while business fares were seen from 12,500 won ($14).

Qantas Freight will occupy a 24,000-square-metre cargo operation at WSI, including around 14,000 square metres of warehousing. The hub will be capable of servicing Qantas’ new and upgraded A330 and A321 freighters when it opens alongside the rest of the airport in 2026.

The news comes just over a year after Transport Minister Catherine King controversially blocked the expansion of Qatar flights into major Australian airports – a decision that Virgin, a codeshare partner of Qatar, criticised.

Speaking to ABC’s Four Corners, Sharp, who took over as chairman after the ousting of former executive chairman Lim Kim Hai, said the board had worked out a “rescue package” for the airline’s beleaguered domestic arm that involved offloading it in its entirety to its larger rival.

The airline plans to operate a third daily A330-300 service from 30 March next year, which will allow it to switch its daily Brisbane and Melbourne flights – currently operating to Narita – to Haneda instead. It currently flies twice daily to Haneda from Sydney.