On September 6th, Virgin Group achieved a significant milestone: its regional subsidiary in Oceania, Virgin Australia Regional, added its first Embraer E190-E2 to its fleet.

The first leg

At 10:52 local time on September 3rd, Virgin Australia’s newest addition departed from São José dos Campos, where Embraer’s main factory in Brazil is located. The aircraft in question, with registration VH-E2A, thus began its long delivery flight to Australia, which lasted almost a week.

São José dos Campos (SJK/SBSJ) – Willemstad (CUR/TNCC), in Curaçao, marked the first leg of the flight, flying over Brazil and Venezuela. It was just over a six-hour flight, following an hour later to Brownsville (BRO/KBRO), United States.

Considering the two legs of the first day, SJK – CUR and CUR – BRO, the E190-E2 covered a total distance of 8,000 kilometers, about 5,000 miles, exceeding 10 hours of flight time, and 11 hours including the stopover in the capital of Curaçao.

Second leg

The next day, the brand-new Embraer E190-E2 continued its delivery flight to Australia, departing Brownsville at 10:58 local time for Ontario (ONT/KONT), the shortest leg of the journey. After a short stopover, it took off in the early afternoon for Hawaii, more precisely Kailua-Kona (KOA/PHKO), where it landed at 15:47 local time.

Brownsville – Ontario – Kailua-Kona was the flight operated on September 4th, lasting 8 hours and 40 minutes, and traveling approximately 6,250 kilometers. This flight, including the stopover at ONT, surpassed 10 hours.

Third leg

On Friday, September 5th, at 10:53 local time, it left Kailua-Kona bound for Nadi (NAN/NFFN), this being the longest flight of the trip between Brazil and Australia. It was a 6-hour and 34-minute flight, covering more than 5,000 kilometers, landing in the Fijian capital at 15:27 local time on Saturday, September 6th. At the time of publication, there is a 22-hour time difference between Hawaii and Fiji.

This E190-E2 stepped onto Australian soil on September 6th at 20:03 local time, after its arrival from Nadi following a 4-hour and 45-minute flight. On September 7th, it was unveiled in the Australian capital, and on the 8th, it completed the final leg of its long journey, flying from Canberra to Perth.

Finally, at 13:50 local time on September 8th, Virgin Australia’s new acquisition landed at Perth International Airport from São José dos Campos via Willemstad, Brownsville, Ontario, Kailua-Kona, Nadi, and Canberra, after a five-day flight.

According to our database, the delivery flight of the Embraer E190-E2 covered more than 25,000 kilometers and exceeded 35 hours of flight time.

The delivery flight

The aircraft, named Coral Bay, was introduced at Virgin Australia Regional Airlines’ (VARA) new state-of-the-art hangar at Perth Airport, where the airline’s Embraer E190-E2s will undergo maintenance.

As announced by Virgin Australia through a press release, the E190-E2s will mainly be used for charter flights in Western Australia, although they may also operate scheduled flights when demand for charter flights is quiet. Virgin has a firm order for eight Embraer E190-E2 aircraft.

At present, Virgin has four major bases in Australia, in addition to Perth (PER/YPPH), being Brisbane Airport (BNE/YBBN), Melbourne Airport (MEL/YMML), and Sydney Airport (SYD/YSSY).

Brisbane

Virgin Australia has Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737 MAX 8, Fokker 70, and Fokker 100 aircraft based in Brisbane. The Fokker aircraft are owned by Alliance Airlines, another Australian carrier.

Alliance Airlines wet-leases Fokker aircraft to Virgin Australia, as well as Embraer 190 aircraft for Qantas.

Melbourne

At publication time, Melbourne is the only of the four bases not to have flights to/from Doha, operated by Qatar Airways’ Boeing 777-300(ER).

In accordance to Virgin’s website, services between Doha and Melbourne will commence on December 1st, and will be conducted on a daily basis with the same aircraft.

Perth

The aircraft based in Perth are also diverse, including the Airbus A320-200, Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737 MAX 8, Embraer 190, and Fokker 100. As with the Fokkers, the Embraer 190s, which cover the Perth-Boolgeeda and Perth-Gruyere routes, are part of Alliance Airlines.

Its Airbus A320-200s are based solely in Perth, having five at the time of publication (VH-VNB, VH-VND, VH-VNF, VH-VNJ, and VH-VNP). In addition, most of the Fokker 100s belong to Alliance Airlines, but Virgin Australia currently operates two F100s, registered as VH-FNR and VH-FSQ.

Sydney

Sydney and Melbourne are its only hubs with Boeing aircraft, but at Kingsford Smith Airport it also operates Saab 340 aircraft belonging to Link Airways, another Australian airline.

These aircraft operate all Virgin flights between Sydney and Canberra, the country’s capital. At present, Virgin has 58 weekly frequencies on this route, resulting in nearly 2,000 seats per week offered on each leg.

Link Airways has 11 Saab 340s in its fleet, which are on average 28 years old. Its main base is Canberra International Airport, and it also serves its own routes with its Saab 340 and Metro 23 aircraft.

For its part, Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, and Sydney are part of Virgin Australia’s route network in Canberra.

In addition to Alliance Airlines and Link Airways, Qatar Airways also operates flights for Virgin Australia, with these three routes between Doha and Australia, which will become four starting in December.

As you can see in our database, Doha-Brisbane, Doha-Perth, and Doha-Sydney, have a daily frequency on Boeing 777-300(ER) aircraft configured for 354 passengers in two classes (42 seats in Business and 312 seats in Economy).

Doha – Brisbane

Daily

• VA 15  Brisbane BNE 15:10 · 23:00 DOH Doha
• VA 16  Doha DOH 01:40 · 22:45 BNE Brisbane

Doha – Perth

Daily

• VA 22  Doha DOH 19:10/19:50 · 11:15+1/11:55+1 PER Perth
• VA 23  Perth PER 15:40/15:55/16:10 · 21:50/22:05/22:20 DOH Doha

Doha – Sydney

Daily

• VA 1  Doha DOH 09:15 · 06:15+1 SYD Sydney
• VA 2  Sydney SYD 14:50 · 22:25 DOH Doha

Doha – Melbourne · as of December 1st

Daily

• VA 7  Melbourne MEL 17:10 · 23:30 DOH Doha
• VA 8  Doha DOH 01:40 · 23:05 MEL Melbourne

Effective December, Virgin Australia will operate 28 weekly flights between Australia and Qatar with Qatar Airways’ Boeing 777-300(ER) aircraft.

Cover photo: © Roger Cannegieter – JetPhotos (Willemstad, Curaçao)