Virgin joins Qantas in flight cuts leaving passengers with choice between Middle East stops or higher fares

Travellers wanting a cheaper flight to Europe soon would have to take their chances on a Gulf airline stopping over in Doha or Dubai after Virgin joined Qantas in cutting flights.

Virgin Australia has flagged fewer flights and higher fares during the second half of 2025-26 and the upcoming financial year, hinting at more service reductions should the conflict in the Middle East continue.

“Given ongoing volatility, FY27 settings including capacity are under review,” it told the Australian Securities Exchange on Wednesday, a day after Qantas also flagged flight cuts and fare increases.

“The group continues to monitor the external environment and retains flexibility to take further actions if required.”

The airline, a quarter owned by Qatar Airways, has also declined to guarantee it could source more jet fuel beyond the end of next month, amid soaring costs.

Jet fuel represented a fifth of Virgin’s total operating expenses before the Middle East conflict.

“Virgin Australia’s fuel suppliers continue to provide assurances regarding the near-term supply of aviation fuel to support its operations well into May 2026,” it said.

“The price of jet fuel has been extremely volatile and has more than doubled since the end of February 2026 which impacts fuel costs for the June 2026 quarter.”

The airline has bought fuel in bulk at a fixed price, in a bid to reduce its exposure to jet fuel price volatility.

“Virgin Australia’s policy is to operate hedging with higher volumes in the short term to mitigate this price volatility, with other operational levers including fare and capacity adjustments available to be implemented over time.”

In this environment, Flight Centre founder and chief executive Graham Turner said flying with Emirates, Qatar or Etihad was a much cheaper way to fly from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane to London during the Iran war.

“If people feel it’s totally safe, it will be a major way for people to travel, there’s no doubt in our mind,” he told The Nightly.

“Shopping around, particularly looking at going through the Middle East now and in the next few weeks, next month, you will save money.

“You’ve got to be a bit prepared that there could be disruption, flights might get cancelled.”

Virgin and Qantas international flights costs had already increased by 18-20 per cent since the US airstrikes on Iran, compared with 5 per cent for domestic flights in Australia, Flight Centre calculations showed.

“Some people mightn’t travel quite as much but that will be offset, we think, by people travelling more domestically, particularly for holidays, because it’s more expensive to go particularly to Europe or to the States,” Mr Turner said.

Domestic demand for both leisure and work is expected to be much less affected, provided fare increases were only minimal on busy flights between capital cities.

“As long as these increases are minimal and the consolidation of flights are reasonably minimal, which is what they look like, I think generally domestic airline travel will stay pretty stable,” Mr Turner said.

Before its Wednesday announcement, Virgin Australia was only offering limited flights to London, with stopovers in Doha for those flying from Australia.

A Sydney to London economy flight with Virgin, stopping over in Doha next week, starts at $1612, one-way, with Qatar Airways operating the services.

Disruptions however are to be expected with Virgin earlier this month announcing a cancellation of Australia to Doha services until June under a short-term arrangement with Qatar, where it offers an aircraft and crew.

An equivalent flight booked through Qatar Airways is $1146 with a stopover in Doha.

An Emirates economy flight from Sydney to London next week, stopping in Dubai, is available for $1025, while an Etihad flight from Sydney to London, with a stopover in Abu Dhabi, starts at just $871.

Qantas has flights to London with stopovers in Los Angeles, Johannesburg or Vancouver, but with much higher prices of $2830, $3092 and $2966.

The traditional stopover in Singapore en route to Europe is much more expensive than flying via Dubai or Doha.

“It not just having to go via Singapore — they also have to divert around Iran, through Afghanistan and Turkey, so that adds significantly — one or two hours at least — to the journey to a place like London,” Mr Turner said.

“It just makes it longer, more expensive, as well as there’s less capacity of course too with Emirates and Qatar and Etihad not having as many flights through the Middle East.”

Citi is expecting Virgin’s revenue per available seat kilometre to increase by 5 per cent in the second half of 2025-25, based on reduced capacity growth, as customers are willing to pay more.