Qatar Airways secures naming rights for British and Irish Lions 2025 tour to Australia

Qatar Airways has been announced as Official Title Partner and Official Airline Partner of the British and Irish Lions’ 2025 tour to Australia.

The Middle East airline’s latest partnership with see it add to its existing sponsorships in Australian sport which currently includes the AFL’s Sydney Swans, the F1 Australian Grand Prix and The Qatar Airways Australian MotoGP in Phillip Island.

The tour will see the Lions, a combined team of the best rugby players from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, take on the Wallabies in a series of Test matches as well as a number of games against other Australian teams.

Qatar Airways, an eight-time winner of the Skytrax World’s Best Airline, will fly the Lions squad and touring party to compete next summer in the Qatar Airways Lions Men’s Tour to Australia, kicking off on Saturday 28th June 2025.

Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium will host the first of three Tests on Saturday 19th July 2025, the second Test will be played on Saturday 26th July at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with the final Test to be played at Sydney’s Accor Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday 2nd August.

In preparation for the first Test, the Lions will face a combined Australian and New Zealand team at the Adelaide Oval, while the tour will also include fixtures in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Engr. Badr Mohammed Al-Meer advised “we are taking our commitment to the sport of rugby to the next level, flying some of the world’s best athletes, coaching staff and officials to compete in The Qatar Airways British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia 2025.

“We look forward to enabling rugby fans across the world to connect for this unique sporting event. Our network of over 170 destinations will serve as the perfect means to fly fans from all over the globe and experience the service that earned us the Skytrax World’s Best Airline award for a record eight times.”

Ben Calveley, Chief Executive of the British & Irish Lions, said an airline partner is a vital logistical component of every Lions tour, adding “alongside our partners in Rugby Australia we are very pleased to welcome Qatar Airways on board as Series Title Partner for the 2025 Tour to Australia.

“Qatar Airways has a proven track record of excellence as a premium global airline, providing high-quality service to customers travelling to and from almost 100 countries. This three-way partnership between the Lions, Rugby Australia and Qatar Airways will play an important part in delivering the Lions Tour in 2025.”

About 20,000 fans are expected to travel to Australia in the summer of 2025 for the series.

The title sponsorship follows two successful Qatar Airways Cup International Test matches in 2023 and 2024 held at Twickenham, between South Africa versus New Zealand and South Africa versus Wales respectively.

Image: The British and Irish Lions at Suncorp Stadium during their last Australian tour in 2011. Credit: Qatar Airways.