Virgin Blue fleet expansion

[Yada Yada]

I thought that the following thread on the Flyertalk forums was worthy of mention here on AFF:
OT - Possible Imminent DJ Aircraft Order

Essentially, it is suggesting that Virgin Blue are about to announce they are purchasing 20 new Embraer aircraft. These are smaller jets - the E170 has 70-78 seats and the E190 has 98-106 seats, all in 2+2 config (more info on these planes here).

If true, this would be exciting news for Aussie travellers.

Edit: Just found the following artlice relating to this:

From: Toll happy with its Virgin Blue stake | Aviation | The Australian
He (Toll Holdings' CEO Paul Little) also noted that the current Virgin fleet was not suited to air freight, but the airline was considering the introduction of small specialist and quick-change aircraft that could be used for passengers during the day and freight at night.

Earlier this week, Virgin Blue chief executive Brett Godfrey confirmed that the airline had been speaking to Brazilian manufacturer Embraer about smaller regional jets.

But he stressed that nothing should be read into the discussions and said it would be disconcerting to have to introduce smaller aircraft at the same time that Virgin was hoping to start long-haul operations.

Interesting times...

 

[NM]

Its now confirmed. They have ordered 11 x Embraer E190 and 3 x Embraer E170 aircraft and optioned a further 6 aircraft.

 

[Yada Yada]

How cool is this! Wide seats in a 2+2 config. Can't wait.

 

[StevePER]

They had an E190 at SYD yesterday lunchtime... looked great! Apparently there were Brazilian dancers as well, but we missed out on seeing them.