Virgin Australia’s first Embraer E190-E2 has officially entered commercial service after arriving in Perth last month.
VH-E2A Coral Bay, the first of eight Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) E190-E2s, operated its first commercial flight, VA9217, on Monday, taking off from Perth at 7.15am and arriving in Boolgeeda at 9.05am.
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According to VARA CEO Nathan Miller, the new aircraft, which will primarily operate charter and FIFO services in WA but can also be used for scheduled passenger transport with its dual-class configuration, marks “an important milestone not only for VARA but also for regional aviation in Western Australia”.
“The E190-E2 is currently the world’s quietest and most fuel-efficient single-aisle aircraft in its class, with the design and range to meet the challenges of the mining regions we operate in across the state,” he said.
“This aircraft sets a new benchmark for comfort, efficiency and sustainability and ensures we are well positioned to deliver a premium experience to our customers and the communities we serve today and in the future.”
VARA has seven more E190-E2s on order, arriving over the next two years until 2027. The first three will be fitted with Wi-Fi and in-flight entertainment early next year, and VARA has previously hinted they could be used for interstate passenger services.
Speaking to Australian Aviation during the ferry flight from Canberra in September, Miller also noted that the E2 could “theoretically” be deployed on short-haul international routes, but only in “a very unique circumstance”.
“Some people have asked me, you know, would we operate this in Bali, for example? The reality is that in that market, this probably isn’t the right aircraft to service that; I think there are better aircraft, like our 737-800s and MAX 8s, that would be better suited to that market,” he said.
“If you look at it more in line with what Scoot is doing, if there’s a niche opportunity where a long, narrow route would only serve 100 people, that could well be the type of thing we look at.
“However, I would highlight that at the moment we have a lot of things to do before we can start thinking about that.”
VARA will use the E2s to completely replace its Fokker 100 fleet, which has an average age of around 30 years. The last Fokker is scheduled to stop operating early next year.
