News
Optimistic Virgin Australia to acquire seven new aircraft as furloughed staff return to work
November 19th 2021
Virgin Australia (VA) has celebrated its first anniversary under new ownership by signing Letters of Intent to acquire seven new 737NGs in a decision CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka, said underlined the airline’s confidence in the industry’s future. Read More » The airline also announced all employees stood down during the COVID-19 pandemic will be back at work by December 1 and that it was seeking to employ an additional 600 staff. The seven 737s will bring VA’s fleet to 84 aircraft, up from 58 when it first returned to the skies after emerging from administration in 2020. Two A320s have also been added to Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) bringing the West Australian resource operation’s A320 fleet to seven aircraft. “This fleet growth underlines the confidence we have in the future of our business and the industry generally. Vaccination rates are rising, borders are opening and demand is returning,” Hrdlicka told staff on Thursday. “We are really positive about travel restarting as borders open more fully. We have used our time well while the industry was quiet and are well advanced on all aspects of our transformation strategy. We fully intend to continue growing with demand to ensure we operate at roughly 33% of the domestic market. This enables us to continue to deliver the right mix of destinations with high frequency to support our business and leisure purpose guests. It also means continued job growth at Virgin Australia and our team is delighted to be welcoming new family members to the organization.” In April, VA announced it would add 10 aircraft to its fleet and decided to acquire another nine in August. All of these aircraft will be operational over the peak southern hemisphere summer season. The carrier said it already has started planning for the mid-2023 arrival of its first 737 MAX 10. VA’s network has been expanding with 12 new domestic routes announced since September and short-haul international operations intended to restart next month with flights to Fiji from December 16. The airline also is scheduling services to Bali and New Zealand.
