Virgin Australia swaps out MAX variants
September 17, 2024
Delays to the certification of the 737 MAX 10 continue to hold up Virgin Australia’s planned fleet renewal programme, with anticipated MAX 10 deliveries having already slipped back from 2025 to at least 2026, exacerbating increased production delays across all Boeing airliners.
By swapping some of the 25 Boeing 737 MAX 10s it has on order for B737 MAX 8s, Virgin Australia hopes to avoid a major loss of capacity. The airline is also adding additional 737-800s to its fleet and hopes to sign leases for at least three 737-800s from Rex, which went into voluntary administration at the end of July 2024. The change will take Virgin’s total order for the MAX 8 from 14 to 26 aircraft, eight of which have already been delivered. The airline increased its 737 MAX 8 order from eight to 14 aircraft in November 2023.
Virgin Australia’s first MAX 8 was delayed by problems at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, and the carrier initially had to use 737-700s on its Cairns–Tokyo (Haneda) route instead of MAX 8s as it had planned.
Virgin Australia currently operates nine 737-700s, 75 737-800s, and eight 737 MAX 8s. Virgin Virgin plans to use the 737 MAX 8 on domestic routes to Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, and also to overseas destinations including Bali, Fiji and Samoa.
Virgin Australia Regional Airlines uses 737-700s, A320s and Fokker 100s though the four remaining Fokker 100s are due to be replaced by new Embraer E190-E2s.
Outgoing Virgin CEO Jayne Hrdlicka observed that: “It’s really hard when you get a delay from your manufacturer, Boeing, then you hang onto aircraft longer than you planned, you suffer from the lack of growth or try to acquire new aircraft on the secondary market, which is really hard. We’ve got a shortage of narrow-body and wide-body aircraft globally which makes it really difficult.”
Australian Aviation’s Jake Nelson quoted Alistair Hartley, Virgin Australia’s chief strategy and transformation officer, who reportedly said that: “As we look towards the future, it is important we have certainty around our pipeline of new aircraft. This decision will safeguard our schedule, allow us to continue to explore opportunities for growth across our domestic and short-haul international network and ensure we can continue to provide our guests with industry-leading reliability. The MAX 8 continues to perform very well in the Virgin Australia fleet. It is 15 per cent more fuel efficient and 40 per cent quieter than the 737-800NG and offers a more comfortable flying experience for our guests.”
