The regional carrier will no longer stop at Orange en route between Sydney and Parkes on morning and evening flights from 21 June to 15 August, though midday services will continue. It follows a Rex Saab 340B being forced to turn back to Sydney last week due to safety concerns.
The carrier has 10 firm orders for the MAX 10, a larger variant of its existing 737 MAX 8 fleet, and is expecting the first in late 2027 “based on manufacturer Boeing’s positive progress with US regulatory approvals”.
The carrier, which currently operates three A320-200s inherited from former low-cost arm Tigerair, has been gradually phasing out the aircraft type to simplify its fleet, with Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) jet operations being taken over by Boeing 737s and the new Embraer E190-E2s.
Flight FJ981 arrived in Coolangatta shortly after noon on Thursday aboard the 737 MAX 8 DQ-FAH, departing for the return to Nadi as FJ980 at around 1:45pm. Flights will operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, adding over 53,000 seats annually to the market.
Speaking to media at WSI on Wednesday, Hudson said that though leisure travel will likely make up the lion’s share of Qantas Group business from the airport especially through Jetstar, premium and business travel will also play an important role in its passenger mix.
In an Australian first, Virgin says its customers will be able to surface destinations based on budget or departure city; find best-value travel periods for different dates; compare cash fares or points-plus-pay; and find the lowest fares across multiple days through the chatbot.