VA order 737MAX

[Steve Jones]

In news just in, Virgin have ordered 23 B737MAX8 aircraft for delivery from 2019.

There must be a press release floating around somewhere...

[Andrew Coggan]

Virgin Australia has ordered 23 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, with an option for another four.

The aircraft will be delivered between 2019 and 2021, says the carrier in a statement on the Australian Securities Exchange.

It did not provide the financial details of the deal.

It adds that it will defer the delivery of an unspecified number of 737-800s to after 2016, and take only 31 between 2013 and 2016, to align with its capacity plan for the next three years.

Virgin has 47 737-800s that are scheduled to be delivered, according to Flightglobal Pro data. The airline receives an average of one a month, says a spokeswoman. She was unable to say how many aircraft will be deferred.

"This gives the airline flexibility to develop the appropriate mix of narrowbody and widebody aircraft," says Virgin Australia.

All eight Boeing 737-700s will also leave Virgin's fleet by the end of 2013, further reducing the average age of a fleet that came down to 4.2 years over the last year.

"The Boeing 737 has formed a critical part of Virgin Australia fleet over the past decade thanks to its reliability, comfort and fuel efficiency. The Boeing 737 MAX will build on this, enabling us to achieve strong on time performance and maintain our low cost base," says its chief executive John Borghetti.

"Virgin Australia will continue to review its fleet strategy to ensure we align fit-for-purpose aircraft to markets and maintain maximum flexibility in capacity management."

Virgin operates a fleet of 737s, Boeing 777-300ERs, Airbus A330-200s, ATR 72-500s and -600s, and Embraer 190s.

Link: Flightglobal.com (http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/virgin-australia-orders-23-boeing-737-max-373752/)

[Mark Grima]

And another link to AA

http://australianaviation.com.au/2012/07/virgin-goes-for-the-max/

Cheers

M

[Rob R]

My guess is there will be an announcement for further A330's very soon.

[JamesL]

No doubt, rumour going around is they will be using kingfisher slots...

[Mike W]

My guess is there will be an announcement for further A330's very soon.

Rather see them order 787s. Maybe a few earmarked for Air Inda sooner than later :p

[Dave Dale]

Does this mean VBY and VBZ which are both owned will disappear?

[Rob R]

4 -700's are staying including VBY and VBZ for the short term, but come 2019 they won't be here along with most of the VU_ rego -800's.

[Zac M]

Wouldn't it be the VO_ block to go? Only VUM, N, W and Y are leased (not 8FE).

[Rob R]

The VO and VU blocks, as by 2019 these aircraft would be pushing 10 years or more.

[Steve S... 2]

The article states that all 737-700's will be gone by the end of 2013.

VH-VBU & VH-VBV will both turn 10 before the end of 2013.

I presume the year 2005 built VH-VBY & VH-VBZ will be withdrawn before 10 years and not in 2015?

[Anthony T]

How are customer codes going to be allocated to the 737MAX?
Will Virgin get 737-MFE & QANTAS (if they order them) get 737-M38?

Just wondering

[Radi K]

Unrelated to the order by VA has delayed the delivery of some of its Boeing 737NG aircraft until after 2016.

Still 31 new B737s due by 2016

[Radi K]

A few higher res shots too.

http://www.aviationwa.org.au/ACPhotos/Photos-other/Virgin737MAX8_2.jpg

http://www.aviationwa.org.au/ACPhotos/Photos-other/Virgin737MAX8_1.jpg

[Brock Little]

Looking good :D

[Richard H.]

Nice one.

I must admit to being a little surprised that Virgin haven't gone for any 737-900ER or Max-9 series aircraft.
Currently Jetstar can scale up to A321 and Qantas can go even further with their 763s on busy east coast or wherever routes where more capacity than a 738 or A320 is needed.
Perhaps Virgin will be relying on larger numbers of A330s for this sort of thing?

[Paul f.]

I thought the 737-900 would have been a better choice for Virgin than the A330s,the 330s a to big for our domestic market.

[Rob R]

A few years back the-900's were looked at but they found the turn around times would be longer due to more passengers and the same number exits and performance issues (stopping) on some of the shorter runways within the network, hence limiting their use.

If the company had of stayed or narrow body and low cost (sorry new world carrier) then they may have purchased the -900 for the golden triangle route, but now the A330 is here the need is no longer there. In time more A330's ( or perhaps 787's) will appear and operate on the golden triangle route.

[Rowan McKeever]

Isn't DJ a little more about frequency than the capacity of each service on the golden triangle etc? Would've thought that would fit with the model of doing 'leisure' flying through the day (ie AYQ, SYD-ROK, SYD-MKY, SYD-TSV, etc)?

[Will H]

The bigger problem with the -900ER and A321 is cost and residual values.

A and B attach a premium to their larger models, knowing that airlines can recoup the investment. There are differing views on seat costs for 900 v 800 and A321 v A320.

With the A320 and 737-800 being the most popular and versatile models, lessors like them and the models have good residual values, important if you're a carrier like VA swapping out your fleet every 7-10 years rather than, e.g. Delta or United that will acquire -900ERs and keep them more or less for life.

On paper the -900 and A321 should be more popular, but in practice other problems compound.

[Nathan Long]

Is that an IR sensor bump under the nose?

[James S.]

No, it's a fairing for longer nose gear, which has been incorporated to help with ground clearance from the increase of the diameter of the CFM Leap-X. Check out the A332 Freighter, similar to that.