Virgin Blue - Live2Air/Fleet

[Wunala Dreaming]

Hello,

Live2Air TV update -

• 737-700s - 11 out of 22 737-700s now have Live2Air TV installed
• 737-800s - 19 out of 27 737-800s now have Live2Air TV installed

For more information on which (specific) aircraft have the system, please follow the link:

VBFlyer - Virgin Blue Fleet Information

Regards

 

[SIA1A]

Hello,

Live2Air TV update -

• 737-700s - 11 out of 22 737-700s now have Live2Air TV installed
• 737-800s - 19 out of 27 737-800s now have Live2Air TV installed

For more information on which (specific) aircraft have the system, please follow the link:

VBFlyer - Virgin Blue Fleet Information

Regards

Update (courtesy of data from VBFlyer - Virgin Blue Fleet Information):

737-700s - Of the 22 aircraft in the fleet, 19 have Live2Air installed while one is classified as "N/A" - it departs the fleet in 2008.

737-800s - Of the 27 aircraft in the fleet, 26 have Live2Air installed.

So only 3 aircraft in the permanent VB fleet remain to be fitted with Live2Air.

Three 737-800s are scheduled to join the fleet across Nov/Dec and early 2008. Presumably these aircraft will also be installed with Live2Air.

Will the Embraer aircraft that are beginning to arrive in 4Q2007 receive the Live2Air treatment?

Note that none of the Pacific or Polynesian Blue aircraft are Live2Air-equipped.

 

[wallacej]

Update (courtesy of data from VBFlyer - Virgin Blue Fleet Information):

737-700s - Of the 22 aircraft in the fleet, 19 have Live2Air installed while one is classified as "N/A" - it departs the fleet in 2008.

737-800s - Of the 27 aircraft in the fleet, 26 have Live2Air installed.

Now I could be wrong, but I am sure I have seen a big Blue red DJ plane with the words "Virgin's 50th aircraft" painted on the side.

This total is 49, and as far as I know they are only running 737's atm... anyone know what the other one might be?? Or do they really only have 49?

 

[moa999]

Any stats on the takeup of Live2Air.

Flew my first DJ flight in a while OOL-SYD. Hardly anyone even looked at the channels during the trial period and didn't see anyone swiping away.
Was no decent sport (or anything else on) so I passed as well and pulled out the trusty ipod

 

[stuartfaz]

Now I could be wrong, but I am sure I have seen a big Blue red DJ plane with the words "Virgin's 50th aircraft" painted on the side.

This total is 49, and as far as I know they are only running 737's atm... anyone know what the other one might be?? Or do they really only have 49?

I think that marks when the Virgin Blue group of airlines recieved their 50th aircraft.

You're correct in saying that there are 49 operated by Virgin Blue, but the total number of DJ group aircraft is 53 (49 VB + 4 Pac Blue which includes 1 in Poly Blue livery)

The first Embraer into service will mark DJ's 50th aircraft operated by Virgin Blue.

That's the only explanation I can muster at the moment...

 

[serfty]

According to this: Virgin Blue Airlines Airfleets >> Fleet listing, some 67 Aircraft have flown under the Virgin Blue Banner. Of these 16 Have been decommissioned.

I guess the "50th" aircraft represents the sequence of commissioning.

It's registration is VH-VBY and was commissioned on 28th July 2005. It named Virginia Blue.

Here's a link to that site's page on it: Virgin Blue Airlines VH-VBY Airfleets

and here's some link to images:

* Virgin Blue Airlines Boeing 737 Next Gen VH-VBY - Airfleets.net Photo

* Airliners.net Photos: Virgin Blue Airlines Boeing 737-7FE

 

[wallacej]

Serfty... what happened to the Hawks logo.. or is it simply a matter of confusion for you now??? Storm or Hawks, Hawks or Storm.... Oh my how hard it is to be a Victorian sports fan...

 

[serfty]

OT:

Not an issue;to avoid any confusion, I went to both GF's last weekend ..

 

[NM]

OT:

Not an issue;to avoid any confusion, I went to both GF's last weekend ..

I sure hope the two Girl Friends did not bump into each other :shock:

 

[Yada Yada]

According to this: Virgin Blue Airlines Airfleets >> Fleet listing, some 67 Aircraft have flown under the Virgin Blue Banner. Of these 16 Have been decommissioned.

I guess the "50th" aircraft represents the sequence of commissioning.

It's registration is VH-VBY and was commissioned on 28th July 2005. It named Virginia Blue.

Another interesting thing about this aircraft is that the names of every VB staff member (I guess at that time) are stencilled onto the overhead lockers from the front to the rear of the cabin.

 

[SIA1A]

Now I could be wrong, but I am sure I have seen a big Blue red DJ plane with the words "Virgin's 50th aircraft" painted on the side.

This total is 49, and as far as I know they are only running 737's atm... anyone know what the other one might be?? Or do they really only have 49?

The 'permanent fleet' data only includes aircraft that are equipped with Live2Air or that are scheduled for installation of Live2Air. It does not include aircraft that have not been delivered (737 and Embraer) or aircraft that are scheduled to leave the Australian-registered fleet.

Not included in this data are:

VH-VBT - 737-300 departs the DJ fleet in 2008 and is not equipped with Live2Air
VH-VUB and VH-VUT - 737-800s - Leaving VB Australia and joining the Pacific Blue fleet by November
VH-VUM, VH-VUN & VH-VUO - 737-800s - Joining the VB Australia fleet in Oct 07, Nov 07 and in 2008 respectively.

So Virgin Blue has certainly operated at least 50 different aircraft - it's just that not all of these aircraft have been operating for Virgin Blue at the same time until now.... and not surprisingly there will be some shuffling of the deck over coming months.

So, to be clear, there are 49 'permanent' aircraft + 3 scheduled additional 737-800s - 1 departure from the Virgin umbrella - 2 transfers to Pacific Blue = 49 737s (ie no net change) in the VB Australia fleet when the dust settles in early 2008.

In the short term the '50th' aircraft has apparently arrived but some departures are imminent.

The above discussion does not include the coming flood of Embraers, the first of which is now in Australia undergoing route-proving and crew training. It will be interesting to see if some 737s are discarded as more Embraers arrive, although the fact that almost all 737s are now Live2Air-equipped, or about to become so, suggests that almost all 737s have a long-term future in the fleet. So once the Embraers are on board it appears that VB Australia will be operating many more than 50 aircraft.

These comments only apply to the VB domestic fleet - not Pacific Blue or Polynesian Blue aircraft.

Now back to my question: Will the Embraers get Live2Air? I understand that the Live2Air equipment takes up considerable space - equivalent to 20 suitcases in the hold. Is this correct? If so, is there sufficient spare space within an Embraer?

The Embraer 'display' aircraft that visited Australia on a promotional visit early this year featured wide-screen LCD displays on every seat and a comprehensive set of in-flight entertainment feeds. However, I think this was all powered by an on-board server, rather than multiple satellite feeds. In other words, it was not a Live2Air or similar system and probably more compact.

 

[Yada Yada]

The above discussion does not include the coming flood of Embraers, the first of which is now in Australia undergoing route-proving and crew training. It will be interesting to see if some 737s are discarded as more Embraers arrive, although the fact that almost all 737s are now Live2Air-equipped, or about to become so, suggests that almost all 737s have a long-term future in the fleet. So once the Embraers are on board it appears that VB Australia will be operating many more than 50 aircraft.

My understanding is that the Embraers will release some 737s off lower capacity routes (e.g. regional towns) so they can be put onto the inter-city routes where more capacity is required.

Now back to my question: Will the Embraers get Live2Air? I understand that the Live2Air equipment takes up considerable space - equivalent to 20 suitcases in the hold. Is this correct? If so, is there sufficient spare space within an Embraer?

:shock: I'd be surprised if that is the case. The Foxtel equipment at my place comprises a set-top box and a small dish. While I realise that there may be more equipment on board for Live2Air, I seriously doubt it would take up that much space. Maybe crazydave98 can provide some details?

 

[Wunala Dreaming]

Hello SIA1A,

Thanks for the update. I actually forgot about this thread

I managed to find some time to update the DJ fleet site so now all the information on there *should* be correct. It should be much easier to read the data now also.

VH-VUH won't be getting Live2Air as it has been confirmed it, along with VH-VUB and VH-VUD will be going across to PacBlue in NZ.

3 aircraft that are due to get the system but don't yet have it are 737-700s VH-VBM and VH-VBU and 737-800 VH-VOX. As mentioned above, the 3 other 737-800s won't get the system neither will 737-700 VH-VBT, which will leave the DJ fleet sometime in 2008.

It's my understanding that the Embraer aircraft WILL NOT receive the Live2Air TV system. They may very well in the future though, but I would imagine there would be many factors influencing the decision whether to install it or not.

Please let me know if you find any mistakes (that includes you to Mr Crazy Dave! ).

Cheers

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