The same Boeing 777s which now make the 13\u00bd-hour trek from Doha to Melbourne and Brisbane will add a quick 3-4 hour hop across the pond to Auckland, before returning later that day to tackle their respective Melbourne-Doha and Brisbane-Doha journeys.<\/p>\n
This means travellers can look forward to the exceptional Qsuites business class \u2013 along with top-notch catering<\/a> \u2013 plus the bonus of fast and free Starlink Wi-Fi<\/a> for every passenger.<\/p>\n Qatar’s Starlink inflight Wi-Fi is probably faster than you have on the ground.<\/p>\n According to the Federal Government\u2019s latest figures, almost 1.1 million people flew between Melbourne and Auckland from March 2025 to March 2026, while Brisbane-Auckland carried 943,000 travellers across the same period.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> for the details of Qatar Airways\u2019 Brisbane-Auckland flights<\/a>, which take wing in June 2027, and read on for more on the Melbourne-Auckland flights starting in December 2026.<\/p>\n Qatar Airways locks in Melbourne\u2013Auckland flights<\/p>\n The Qatar<\/a> Airways website shows these new Melbourne-Auckland flights beginning on Thursday December 10.<\/p>\n QR904 will depart Melbourne at 1:20am, landing in Auckland at 6:50am: now this will be a bit of an ask, with the late night (or rather, early morning) wheels-up time leading into a very short red-eye flight (power naps for the win).<\/p>\n In addition, travellers headed to Auckland rather than any onwards flight will need to roll the dice on their hotel providing an early check-in, or carry the cost of booking their stay from the day before.<\/p>\n QR905 leaves Auckland at 1:15pm, to reach Melbourne at 3:10pm: much better, especially for the ability to pop into the Auckland lounge of fellow Oneworld member Qantas.<\/p>\n Of course, these Boeing 777s are a definite upgrade from the Boeing 737s of Qantas, with their domestic-grade business class recliners, and are also superior to Air New Zealand\u2019s Boeing 777 and 787 experience.<\/p>\n Making the deal even sweeter, Qatar<\/a> Airways\u2019 airfares are on par with Qantas and AirNZ, starting from around $1,300 in business class and $550 in economy.<\/p>\n Enjoy true international-grade business class service on this quick trans-Tasman hop.<\/p>\n To accomodate this extra Auckland leg, Qatar<\/a> Airways will shuffle its Doha-Melbourne QR904\/QR905 service into the slots currently held by Virgin Australia\u2019s VA7\/VA8 flights, with Virgin moving into the\u00a0existing QR904\/905 timings.<\/p>\n Qatar<\/a> Airways currently flies an Adelaide-Auckland leg on the back of its Doha-Adelaide service, but this is being dropped in favour of Melbourne-Auckland.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not an uncommon practice for some international airlines to add an Australia-New Zealand leg to their schedules, to utilise the aircraft during what could otherwise be an extended layover.<\/p>\n Emirates\u2019 daily Dubai-Sydney-Christchurch A380 flight<\/a> is a popular example among savvy travellers, especially for passengers who book a ticket in the premium cabins, with Starlux adding Taipei-Sydney-Auckland<\/a> next year.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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