Virgin Australia’s Exciting New Aircraft

Virgin Australia has commenced operations with its newest aircraft, the Embraer E190-E2, representing a new era for its business.

The group introduced the aircraft named Coral Bay on service between Perth and Boolgeeda, departing at 0715 and arriving at 0950 AWST, operated by the Virgin Australia Regional Airlines division.

For Virgin Australia Group, the addition of the E2 not only delivers an overhauled customer experience across regional markets but also increases business efficiency.

The E2, which is part of the next generation of aircraft, has been described by Virgin Australia as purpose-built for mining regions in Western Australia, where shorter runways are more common and temperatures are substantially higher than in other parts of Australia.

These E2 jets will also be a significant upgrade over the outgoing Fokker 100 aircraft, with the Embraer unit equipped with wider seats and more overhead bin space, plus Wi-Fi connectivity, in-flight entertainment via personal devices, in-seat power, and more.

These F100 aircraft will also be retired from early 2026, made possible by the development of the E190-E2 fleet over the coming years.

Virgin Australia will also offer a dual business and economy class configuration, which is, importantly, a first for the Western Australia charter market and huge for those travelling for business-related reasons to smaller mining markets.

A New Era For Virgin Australia

Ultimately, while the E2 is a fresh new era for Virgin Australia, it has been touched on by the General Manager of VARA, Nathan Miller, who represents much more than that.

For regional aviation in Australia and certainly Western Australia, Coral Bay marks a milestone not seen before with the jet, the quietest and most fuel-efficient in the class that VARA is specifically looking to adopt.

Virgin Australia believes the aircraft will set a new benchmark for not just comfort but also efficiency and, more importantly, sustainability, as the airline group looks to meet key emission targets moving forward.

The airline group believes the introduction of the E2 will also position it well to meet premium demand for customers served not just today but also long into the future.

This unit is the first of eight E190-E2 aircraft, which will join the regional division, with current forecasts showing the remaining seven units scheduled for delivery across 2025, 2026, and into 2027.

While much of the airlines’ focus with this latest E2 is on serving regional markets across Western Australia, Virgin Australia has also confirmed the aircraft could be seen on some domestic routes with high leisure demand and during periods with lower charter activity.