Traffic #390 | Virgin Australia welcomes first 737 MAX

In fact, it’s possible that Virgin believed it was taking delivery of its first MAX jet a whole year before actually doing so, having twice sent out lavish and ominous invites to the press to welcome in Virgin Australia’s “new era of flying” – first in May 2022 before delaying to June that same year, and ultimately canceling the whole affair soon after.

While the original plan – if that event was to ring in its new MAXs – would have included dinner, drinks, and a hangar unveiling, the actual affair was far more toned down, with less fanfare and a speedy transition into regular operation of the new aircraft.

In the weeks since its delivery, Monkey Mia has certainly been putting in the hard yards, regularly performing domestic passenger services between Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. And, as you might know, this aircraft has also been brought on as the new workhorse for Virgin flight VA77 between Cairns and Haneda in Japan – the longest international flight currently in the Virgin Australia network.

The route, announced in December 2022, was formally introduced into the network the same day that Virgin took delivery of its first MAX 8 in Seattle, however required the use of its existing 737-800 fleet for the initial few weeks. The airline revealed in May 2023 that it would move ahead with the launch of its new Tokyo route using its existing fleet, due to the MAX delivery delays.

Qantas continues fleet shake-up with B717 farewell

In June, Qantas bid adieu to its very first Boeing 717 aircraft, VH-NXI, as it now sets the scene for the delivery of its first Airbus A220s. VH-NXI, named ‘Blue Mountains’ upon its delivery to the Flying Kangaroo, not only represents the first of its kind in the Qantas fleet, but in fact the first Boeing 717 to be registered in Australia. The historic aircraft also went on to perform the inaugural Jetstar flight from Melbourne to Launceston on the day the airline launched in May 2004, so certainly has a number of accolades to its name.

To honour the plane’s exit from Qantas operations, the airline put together an event at Sydney Airport that saw the 717, representing the history of Qantas, flanked by the airline’s new international and domestic workhorses – a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and an Airbus A321LR.

Speaking at the event, CEO Alan Joyce dubbed the retirement the “end of an era”, noting the aircraft type played a “crucial role in connecting Australians” for over two decades. He added that the airline is in the “early stages of the biggest fleet renewal program in its history.”

“It’s fitting that the very first 717 to be registered in this country is making way for another brand-new fleet type, the A220, which can operate double the range of the 717s opening up new domestic and short-haul international routes,” Joyce said.

VH-NXI has now been sold to a North American operator (believed to be Delta Airlines) as a spares ship, resulting in the (relatively) little aircraft making the mammoth journey from Sydney to Victorville, California in the USA – making no less than eight stops along the way. After the farewell ceremony in Sydney, the plane was ferried to Canberra for its journey across the globe.

On June 16, 2023, VH-NXI was ferried first to Alice Springs, then on to Darwin before departing for Cebu in the Philippines the following day. On June 18, the flight continued to Nagoya and Sapporo in Japan, where it stayed put for a few more days. VH-NXI started its final legs, from Sapporo to Anchorage in Alaska on 26 June, then on to Boeing Field in Seattle on 27 June, and finally to the Victorville storage centre.

Last QF Dreamliner finally touches down as last A380 returns to service

Qantas followed up the Boeing 717 retirement just weeks later with the delivery of its final Boeing 787 Dreamliner, VH-ZNN. Named ‘Snowy River’ upon delivery on Sunday, 23 July, the aircraft is the last of 14 jets ordered by Qantas in a deal that started nearly 20 years ago.

The jet was ferried from Boeing’s Everett factory late on Friday, 21 July, undertaking the nearly 16-hour journey direct to Melbourne Tullamarine Airport. Within days, VH-ZNN was already being used on regular services between Melbourne, Perth and London, as well as Melbourne and Los Angeles.

The delivery marks a major step forward as Qantas continues to push to recover 100 per cent of its pre-pandemic international capacity. To that end, the airline also restored another of its flagship Airbus A380s to passenger service in July, though the return was far from smooth. The plane saw two mechanical issues within as many days, possibly the result of a teething problem after spending more than two years in the Victorville storage centre in Mojave Desert.

After finally being moved out of the California desert in January, VH-OQI spent six months in Abu Dhabi for a cabin refurbishment and was later ferried to Sydney on 7 July 2023. The four-engine jet was swiftly moved into passenger service, performing its first post-pandemic revenue flight from Sydney to London via Singapore’s Changi Airport on 10 July.

Just three days later on its journey from Singapore to London as QF1, though, VH-OQI was forced to descend below its planned altitude due to an autopilot malfunction, though went on to perform an uneventful landing at Heathrow. Unfortunately, the plane’s return flight as QF2 from Heathrow to Singapore the following day suffered a worse fate, seeing the jet divert back to its origin just two hours into the flight, due to an issue in its navigation systems. VH-OQI was then checked over, and later performed a flight test from London, before being reinstated to regular service two days later.

China’s COMAC C919 sees first passengers

Further afield in the Asia-Pacific, China’s answer to the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 single aisle workhorse duopoly, the C919, completed its very first passenger flight in May 2023 between Shanghai and Beijing. Built by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), the plane was delivered to its inaugural customer China Eastern Airlines back in December 2022 after receiving aircraft type received final certification in September.

Flight MU9191 departed from Shanghai’s Hongqiao airport around 10:30am on Sunday, 28 May, with over 130 passengers onboard. The flight received a warm welcome at its destination of Beijing Capital Airport, where it saw a water salute, around two hours later.

The C919 had spent about 14 years in development before its 2023 commercial debut and has been heralded as a major success in Chinese domestic design and manufacturing capability. COMAC states it has seen over 1,200 orders for the C919 since its market launch and plans to ramp up production to 150 planes per year within the next five years.

Bonza planes divert to Poland

Two Bonza-branded Boeing 737 MAX planes were spotted in Poland in late May, which entered service for Warsaw-based charter airline Enter Air while still sporting Bonza’s purple thumbs-up livery and ‘Here for Allstralia’ slogan.

Both planes briefly entered the Australian aircraft register as VH-UBI and VH-UJZ and later removed and replaced with two other MAX jets. The MAX jets are of course all owned by Bonza’s US bankrollers 777 Partners and were each ultimately shipped off to the operator that required them most urgently.

According to reports, Enter Air needed to increase its capacity dramatically to keep up with demand for the European summer, leading to a speedy purchase and delivery schedule that result in the airline committing to the Bonza purple in order to get the planes in the air with their customers as soon as possible.

The delivery also forms a full-circle moment for the two jets, now registered SP-EXE and SP-EXF, as they return to Polish soil. Both planes were originally ordered by Polish flag carrier LOT before being redirected to Bonza down under over the pandemic.