Virgin Australia has just placed a new aircraft order for something other than the Boeing 737. However, odds are that most Virgin Australia customers will never fly this plane.
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Virgin Australia orders eight Embraer E190-E2s
Virgin Australia has placed a firm order for eight Embraer E190-E2 aircraft. Deliveries of the jet are scheduled to begin in the second half of 2025, so the first plane could join Virgin Australia’s fleet in roughly a year.
For those not familiar with the Embraer E190-E2, this is the latest generation jet of the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer’s lineup. The E190-E2s has the capacity to carry 100-112 passengers depending on the configuration, and the plane is in a 2-2 layout in economy. The plane has the range to fly 2,850 nautical miles, so it’s capable of flying just about anywhere in Australia.
This order might come as a surprise, given that Virgin Australia’s “mainline” fleet consists exclusively of Boeing 737s. As you might expect, there’s a reason for this order…
Embraer jets will operate for Virgin Australia Regional Airlines
Virgin Australia’s new Embraer E190-E2s won’t operate as part of the mainline fleet, but rather will be operated by Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA). For those not familiar, VARA is based in Perth (PER), and operates flights within Western Australia, primarily for workers heading to mines and other sites with natural resources.
VARA operates a fleet of roughly 10 aircraft, including Airbus A320s and Fokker 100s, which differ from Virgin Australia’s standard fleet. So replacing some of those older planes with Embraer E190-E2s is quite the modernization.
Here’s how Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka describes this order:
“When the new E190-E2 enters service from October 2025, it will become the first new aircraft in the WA charter market this century. The E190-E2 is the most fuel-efficient aircraft in its segment and will reduce emissions by about 30 per cent compared to the outgoing F100. These aircraft also feature significantly lower noise profiles and enhanced passenger comfort.”
“When the E190-E2 joins the fleet from late next year it will predominantly operate charter flights for VARA, bolstering its position as a leading operator in the WA charter market. This is a huge vote of confidence by the Virgin Australia Group in our charter business and the WA market.”
Bottom line
Virgin Australia has placed an order for eight Embraer E190-E2s. These planes will operate for Virgin Australia Regional Airlines in Western Australia, primarily for charter flights to mines and other destinations frequented by workers. The jets will replace all Fokker 100s and some Airbus A320s.
The E190-E2 is an awesome plane, so it’s great to see Virgin Australia order this. However, most passengers will never fly this jet, since it won’t operate many scheduled flights, and won’t leave Western Australia much.
What do you make of Virgin Australia’s Embraer E190-E2 order?
They actually used to fly E-170 and 190s before, with the last being retired in 2018. So it's not that surprising.
I remember flying Sydney to Melbourne with Virgin ("Virgin Blue" at the time) on the E-190.
They will use them on mainline routes in between.
Currently VARA use the a320 mine charter planes on three ADL- PER, PER -
BME, PER - KNX route and the Fokker100 on the ADL- BNE routes