Virgin Australia Fleet Update Thread.

[TirEoghain]

Work is being done right now i expect. The first BNE-PER A330 flight is actually showing as September 5 if you search for it. Appears to be one-off at this time though.

The 10:30am PER-BNE flight on the 5th Sept shows as an A330 as well, with no business class seats available. Sold out already?

 

[ash.1111]

Flew on VH-YFJ yesterday MEL-SYD, which I believe has only been in the fleet a few days. Nice bird - the BSI is a huge improvement over the old interior IMHO.

YFL and this bird actually have something that other BSIs don't have (I think it's just these 2), a new bathroom light design! There are also a few other changes in the bathroom.

Looks a tad fancy, for an aeroplane bathroom anyway.

 

[wafliron]

YFL and this bird actually have something that other BSIs don't have (I think it's just these 2), a new bathroom light design! There are also a few other changes in the bathroom.

Looks a tad fancy, for an aeroplane bathroom anyway.

Ah bugger, I didn't get a chance to check it out

I swear these newer 737's are quieter too - particularly noticeable during takeoff when sitting forward of the engines. Anyone else noticed this too? I would've thought the noise should be largely identical given it's the same model of plane - unless Boeing have made some "life cycle updates" around noise-proofing or engine noise output?

 

[markis10]

For the record XFA left on the 15th:

[h=2]15th July 2012 - VH-XFA Positions to Subang Maintenance.[/h] Airbus A330-200 VH-XFA positioned Melbourne - Subang this morning as DJ9939 where it will undergo maintenance and cabin refurbishments.

The VA Source - Virgin Australia News & Information

 

[markis10]

Another 700 left the fleet as VBO left Australia yesterday, joining 800 VOD who left the fleet earlier this month.

 

[KCMil]

VBL is finishing its flying later this week, leaving only the refit 700's. No rogue a/c left then. Currently the 700's only book up to 6 J class but have 8 J seats due to galley constraints.
Interestingly three of the remaning 700's are to have a galley refit early 2013. One wont sugegsting it is leaving the fleet. I suppose that will fix the storage issue and allow the use
of all 8 J seats. Word is that the first of the E-jets with refit J class will appear in the not too distant future as well.
Will be nice to see an airline with a consistant 'hard' product throughout, excepting ATR's.
VA's challenge now is to get the delivery consistant, good luck on that front! getting people to all do precisely the right thing is a monumental challenge!

 

[Meggsy]

VBL is finishing its flying later this week, leaving only the refit 700's. No rogue a/c left then.

Interesting. I have a flight from Hamilton Island to Brisbane next week, showing as a 737-800 with no business class for sale. It is only advertising Premium. Is it a rogue, a web site issue or maybe one of the Pacific Blue (virgin NZ) acft. I flew to Fiji last week on VA flights operated by Virgin NZ and they were still fitted with the red recaro PE seats in the first 3 rows. Any ideas?

 

[smit0847]

What's happening with the pacific island flights? Will they have J or is it still PE or all Y? On the 3 - 4 hour flights on the 737, it starts to make the option of J a lot more attractive than just a 1 hour MEL-SYD hop.

 

[KCMil]

All 800's have J class now. VOD was the only one without it and has left the fleet already. I'd say there is a glitch there as Premium is not offered on VA domestic flights. It's J or Y only now.

 

[markis10]

All 800's have J class now. VOD was the only one without it and has left the fleet already. I'd say there is a glitch there as Premium is not offered on VA domestic flights. It's J or Y only now.

Or a ZK bird is running on the route to help move traffic, extra HTI services occurred last weekend with Australian registered aircraft.

 

[gwilli1]

Does anyone know when VA will complete there refurb of there 777 fleet including livery ? Im guessing , but I think they have only completed 1 out of the 5 , so far .

 

[Liroquai]

No idea when the 777 refurb will be complete but I will mention that I flew on the refurb'ed plane last month LAX-SYD in Y - seats are infinitely better. Much more comfortable and the "sliding" of the seats when reclined provide much better lumbar support. Was a great flight.

 

[Justchecking]

In an article by Steve Creedy, Borghetti has poured water on speculation that Virgin might take up QFs cancelled 787-9 slots, by saying the slots are already taken. Still considering 787 but for delivery beyond 2017. A330 fleet however still subject to change in the short term.

Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian

 

[markis10]

In an article by Steve Creedy, Borghetti has poured water on speculation that Virgin might take up QFs cancelled 787-9 slots, by saying the slots are already taken. Still considering 787 but for delivery beyond 2017. A330 fleet however still subject to change in the short term.

Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian

Similar content featured in the SMH earlier this week, however it won't be before 2019 if they do go with the 787 based on current backlog, even with the surge line that's when first slots for new orders are available.

 

[Fruitcake]

One thing I've been wondering is if anything has changed with the A330-200 that suddenly makes it suitable for high-frequency short haul routes.

My understanding is that Qantas ordered the A330-200s with the intention of largely replacing 767s domestically (quite a few had prominent 'Cityflyer' titles in the early days). But they quickly found that A330s could not be turned fast enough to make the triangle operations run smoothly and economically. I've seen explanations for this ranging from pax ingress/egress taking far longer than the 767s (which makes sense), as well as slower refuelling times on the A330.

Has this changed? Are new build A330s better suited to high-frequency operations? Unless they are, is there any point in Virgin acquiring any more than are necessary for SYD/MEL/BNE-PER? The Australian domestic market is arguably quite spoiled with respect to availability of widebodies on domestic services so they need to be competitive in this area. Or if QF is resigning themselves to having to put up with the difficulties of A330s on the triangle, will that give space for Virgin to do the same?

 

[markis10]

The A330s are fine where there is a two door aerobridge, which is now in place at many cities.

 

[Fruitcake]

The A330s are fine where there is a two door aerobridge, which is now in place at many cities.

Thanks Markis - I obviously don't wander enough QF terminals. I'm guessing the much longer wingspan of the A330 vs the 767 probably added to the time it took to upgrade the infrastructure (ie not simply a case of dumping a two-door jetway into the current gate space).

Do the works VA is performing to get SYD, MEL and BNE to prepare / make them better suited to A330s include two door bridges?

 

[markis10]

Thanks Markis - I obviously don't wander enough QF terminals. I'm guessing the much longer wingspan of the A330 vs the 767 probably added to the time it took to upgrade the infrastructure (ie not simply a case of dumping a two-door jetway into the current gate space).

Do the works VA is performing to get SYD, MEL and BNE to prepare / make them better suited to A330s include two door bridges?

I doubt VA are putting in dual aerobridges at this stage as they are less of an issue on the longer transcon run, different story on the golden triangle. BTW they are clearly visible on google, this is MEL QF with is characteristic bump where the QP once lived:

 

[gwilli1]

Does anyone have any further info on when the 777 fleet refurb will be completed ? From what i can tell there is still only 1 aircraft (VH-VPH) that has undergone the refurb . Do I recall JB saying this was to be completed by the end of 2012 ? Clocks ticking.......

 

[Globetrotter]

Does anyone have any further info on when the 777 fleet refurb will be completed ? From what i can tell there is still only 1 aircraft (VH-VPH) that has undergone the refurb . Do I recall JB saying this was to be completed by the end of 2012 ? Clocks ticking.......

I thought I read on another AFF thread that all VA 777's were on track to be completed by Dec '12. I've flown in J on a refurbished VA 777 and it was great, much better than the original.