Virgin challenges Qantas with European sale

Virgin Australia has launched a European price war with Qantas that will see it fly from Sydney to London for as little as $2,000 return. It marks the airline’s first aggressive move to market to European destinations since it stopped flying to the hub airports of Hong Kong in 2020 and Abu Dhabi in 2017 before entering administration in 2020. The low prices will also likely be seen as an attempt to convince the federal government to approve its deal with Qatar, which will enable flights to Doha. Qatar announced last year it would purchase a 25% stake in the Australian airline and, as part of the agreement, would ‘wet lease’ aircraft and crew to Virgin so it could fly 28 services a week to the Middle Eastern country’s capital. The “flash sale fares” are for travel between 17 June and 11 July 2025 on flights from Sydney, Brisbane and Perth to Doha (VA1/2, VA15/16 or VA21/22) and onwards connections to Europe. Economy class fares include Sydney to Paris from $1,927 return, Sydney to London from $2,035 return and Brisbane to Barcelona from $1,938 return.<br/>