Since October 2022, Qatar Airways has been flying a Boeing 777 every day from Doha to Adelaide via Melbourne. Initially, no passengers were being carried on the tag flight between Melbourne and Adelaide, but Qatar Airways began selling seats all the way through from Doha to Adelaide (via Melbourne) in November.

The reason this flight exists is that Qatar Airways actually just wanted to launch a second daily flight between Doha and Melbourne. But the airline is not allowed to do so unless that flight continues to another Australian airport that is not Sydney, Brisbane or Perth. This is due to the terms of the Air Services Agreement between Australia and Qatar, which is currently being renegotiated.

Qatar Airways had initially intended to operate QR988 and QR989 as a daily Doha-Melbourne-Canberra route, but scrapped this plan at the last minute. This was reportedly because the airline could not come to an agreement with Canberra Airport’s ground handler. Qatar Airways has since removed all Canberra flights from its schedule.

So, for now, QR988 now operates from Doha to Melbourne and then onwards to Adelaide. Qatar Airways is selling seats on this service from Doha to both Melbourne and Adelaide. But it has an overnight stop in Melbourne of more than six hours!

This is the current schedule for QR988 and QR989:

• QR988 Doha 01:45 – Melbourne 23:20
• QR988 Melbourne 05:35 – Adelaide 06:30 (next day)
• QR989 Adelaide 12:40 – Melbourne 14:30
• QR989 Melbourne 16:15 – Doha 22:40

Qatar Airways does operate another flight between Doha and Adelaide. QR914 operates non-stop from Doha to Adelaide six days per week, with that service continuing to Auckland. The reverse QR915 operates from Auckland to Doha via Adelaide.

For Qatar Airways passengers travelling from Doha to Adelaide, QR914 is a much better option as it’s a non-stop service taking around 13 hours.

By comparison, due to the extra stop in Melbourne, the journey time on QR988 blows out to over 21 hours!

Passengers on QR988 cannot leave Melbourne Airport overnight

To make matters worse, Qatar Airways passengers connecting from Doha to Adelaide via Melbourne on QR988 are not allowed to leave Melbourne Airport or exit the international transit area during the overnight transit.

After landing in Melbourne at 11.20pm, passengers continuing to Adelaide are escorted through the international transfer security checkpoint and taken directly into the airside departures area.

There is no possibility to check into a Melbourne Airport hotel. Most of the lounges within Melbourne Airport are also closed overnight. Boarding for the onward sector commences around 5am.

AFF member Voron recently took this flight, and posted about the experience on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum:

They gathered the ADL passengers in MEL as everyone left the plane, (at 11:30ish pm) and escorted us through a security check and up to the international transit area. They told us to be at the gate for 3:45am, and that we were not to leave the international transit area. 
All lounges close over night, and not much else was open. 
I tried to get some duty free stuff but they refused to sell it to me (the manager was really nice about it), saying they’d take it off us at the gate, because I was flying from one domestic airport to another. (No one checked our hand luggage, it would have been fine, but possibly illegal?!?!)
I had a shower near gate 7, the bathroom was filthy, but I had some spray disinfectant with me, and thongs. I just used up a shedload of bog roll cleaning the basin etc.
They turned up at the gate at about 4:30-4:45am. They told us to sit in the same seats again when we boarded (not everyone did🤣) and we arrived in ADL just as they were opening up everything – someone had to run down the air bridge and unlock the door into the airport.

This arrangement clearly isn’t ideal. That said, it would not be possible for Qatar Airways to operate the Melbourne-Adelaide leg of QR988 in the early hours of the morning because Adelaide Airport has a curfew between 11pm and 6am.

On the return journey, thankfully, QR989 from Adelaide to Doha only stops in Melbourne for less than two hours.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.