On the tarmac at Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport on Thursday, Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Steve Dimopoulos, joined Minister for Industry Support and Recovery, Ben Carroll, as he announced Qatar Airways has committed to two daily Doha – Melbourne flights.
“Melbourne airport will be the only airport in Australia that has two daily flights to Doha,” Carroll MP said.
“Two daily flights equals 250,000 seats coming into Victoria every year, contributing to nearly 1000 jobs in aviation and tourism and over $80 million in economic activity.”
For his part, Dimopoulos MP said “this is an exciting day. We are roaring back. Melbourne and Victoria is roaring back.”
It was great to hit the tarmac today with my friend, @Steve_Dimo, to announce that @qatarairways will fly a second daily service from Doha to Melbourne. We’re backing more international flights to Melbourne because it means more jobs in our tourism and aviation industries. pic.twitter.com/VAAqEsSID8
— Ben Carroll (@BenCarrollMP) July 7, 2022
The Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events said that Victoria’s visitor economy has “rebounded” with overnight spending back to pre-pandemic levels and hotel occupancy rates increasing by 50% from the beginning of the year.
“This will bring dollar spend right through the Victorian economy … from the restaurants of regional Victoria right to the heart of the CBD. Having thousands of extra tourists coming to Victoria is just the boost our tourist economy needs,” he said.
In welcoming Qatar Airway’s decision, the Member for Oakleigh added it was an important announcement for Greek Australians due to the airway’s direct flight offering.
“There is a high number of Greek Australians and Greeks from Greece who prefer Qatar because of direct flights both to cities in Greece and to Australia.”
WATCH the full announcement of Qatar Airway’s double daily service here:
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