Qatar Airways is to operate the first scheduled service from Edinburgh using the new generation Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
The Doha route from the Scottish capital is to be launched on May 28 with five flights a week.
The Dreamliner will offer a two-class configuration, with 22 seats in business class and 232 economy seats.
The service will be the first link from Edinburgh to the Gulf region, offering connections to Qatar Airways’ 136 destinations worldwide.
Journey times to Melbourne will be reduced from about 26 hours with two transfers down to 20 hours with one international transfer at Doha’s soon-to-be-opened Hamad international airport.
Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker said: “The start of services from Edinburgh to Doha not only offers travellers from the Scottish capital access to the Middle East in under seven hours, but also a quicker total journey time to other popular destinations in Asia, India and Australasia.
“We are delighted to confirm that the Boeing 787 will operate on this important new route and are sure that not only will this benefit the local market in Scotland, but also attract a significant amount of business and trade links for those wishing to travel to Edinburgh from all corners of the world.”