ANALYSIS: New jets are expected to improve performance, reliability and customer comfort.
Reinvention is in the air at Virgin Australia Regional Airlines.
“I would characterise us as being in a state of change: exciting change, historical change, cultural change,” VARA executive general manager Nathan Miller said.
“Going back to its roots, Skywest reinvented itself many, many times over, and we’re doing it now as VARA.”
Mr Miller’s comments came ahead of the airline’s receipt of the first of eight 100-seat Embraer 190-E2 jets, which are expected to begin flying in October.
Last year, when Virgin ordered the E190-E2s, then-group chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka said the new aircraft would offer improved performance and reduced emissions.
“When the first new E190-E2 enters service from October 2025, it will become the first brand-new aircraft in the Western Australian charter market this century,” she said.
“The E190-E2 is the most fuel-efficient aircraft in its segment and will reduce emissions by about thirty per cent compared to the outgoing F100.
“These aircraft also feature significantly lower noise profiles and enhanced passenger comfort.”
At the signing ceremony last year, Virgin Velocity Frequent Flyer chief executive Nick Rohrlach said the E190-E2s would offer significantly improved performance, reliability, customer comfort and fuel efficiency.
“This significant investment will also support the creation of 150 new, WA-based jobs over the next three years, which is great news for our WA team and the state more broadly,” he said.
Embraer Commercial Aviation chief commercial officer Martyn Holmes said the E2 was a game changer.
“We are excited to welcome Virgin Australia to the Embraer family and look forward to seeing our best-in-class E2 – renowned for comfort, quietness, and low emissions – take the airline to even greater heights,” he said.
Specs
The E190-E2 is much more than just another fly-in, fly-out jet.
Firstly, it comes in a two-by-two seating configuration with eight business-class seats, 16 economy X seats, eight preferred seats, and 64 economy seats.
The aircraft also features large windows, almost double the size of the Fokker 100 it will replace, providing a roomy and airy atmosphere.
Building upon the first-generation E-Jet’s 20 years of operational excellence, the E190-E2’s enhanced aerodynamics, novel wing design and new technologies deliver significant improvements in carbon emissions and fuel burn.
It has been certified to fly with blends of up to 50 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and has demonstrated the engine’s compatibility with 100 per cent SAF5.
The acquisition by VARA is part of a significant group-wide fleet growth and renewal program that includes the acquisition of new Boeing 737 MAX-8 aircraft and the refurbishment of the airline’s existing 737 fleet.
The eight E190-E2s are the final part of a comprehensive fleet renewal whereby the 137-seat Boeing 737-700 will partially replace the Fokker 100, which has been the backbone of the Skywest/VARA fleet for the past 20 years.
The replacement of the Fokker 100 is a big change and not a simple transition, as not every airport can accommodate a 737; thus the search for the ideal 100 seater.
VARA will retain its workhorse of seven A320s, which operate FIFO charters for the resources sector, as well as some regular public transport routes. The 737-700 gives VARA a great middle-of-the-market platform; something that the airline has not previously had.
Workhorse
The factory-fresh E190-E2s come with high capital cost, and will require a different business model, given most FIFO aircraft are high-time machines.
An example of this was the 65-seat F28s, introduced in 1969, which operator MacRobertson Miller Airlines flew for long hours. It was the same with the BAe 146s in the mid 1980s: the utilisation was high.
Instead of two cycles a day, VARA will work to get three, and the airline will need to be more versatile in terms of what it does with them.
Fortunately, versatility is what the new E190-E2 has in spades.
Compared with a 100-seat Fokker 100, the Embraer 190-E2 can carry the same passenger load and an additional 2,000-kilogram payload about 2,000 kilometres further, while using 30 per cent less fuel.
The aircraft has a range of around six hours and is powered by Pratt & Whitney’s PW1900G engines.
That sort of performance makes a wide variety of routes possible, such as Christmas and Cocos islands, Singapore, Bali, and anywhere on the east coast of Australia.
This means VARA can compete in a space it has never had the capacity to before: those with low volume but longer range.
An aircraft such as the E190-E2 would also enable VARA to continue to service clients with aerodrome constraints, which is a huge environmental plus. Another is that the E190-E2 is extremely quiet and has a noise footprint 75 per cent less than the Fokker 100.
That reduction means the E2’s noise footprint is confined to the airport boundary.
While the E190 has been around for some time, the E2 version is an almost-new aircraft with new engine types, different flight control systems and a new wing.
The first E190-E2 will arrive in Perth from Canberra this week and will be followed by three more. The balance will be delivered through 2026.
Last year, Mr Miller told Business News VARA wanted to stay in the 100-seat market in a sustainable way so that customers could continue to rely on the airline.
“While some airlines are planning to keep the Fokker 100 for another seven years, we are on the front foot,” Mr Miller said.
“I am really proud to say that Virgin and VARA are ahead of the curve on this change and well ahead of the industry. We are the first to exit the Fokkers and we’re the first to acquire a sustainable replacement.”
He believes the airline now has the mix right.
“We now have a fleet that puts us in a strong position in terms of efficiency with regards to leveraging VARA and its history, its culture, its capability to deliver into the market,” Mr Miller said.
Clearly he’s not fazed by the introduction of the E190-E2s and takes comfort from recalling the delivery of Skywest’s first A320 a decade ago.
“Some people thought they were mad,” Mr Miller said.
“Some even said Skywest getting the Fokker 100 was a bad idea. But look at the fleets today.
“Skywest led the way; as it has always done in WA.”
VARA has evolved over the years into a charter airline, with Virgin Australia its biggest customer.
Mr Miller said 40 to 45 per cent of its business was flying for Virgin Australia from Perth to Adelaide, Hobart, Darwin, Broome, Port Hedland and Karratha.
With the A320, 737-700 and E190-E2, VARA will have the most modern and versatile fleet in WA to service the resources sector and regional centres. It’s a far cry from the six-seat Cessna 337, of Nor’West Air Taxis, that started it all in 1963.
Captain John Roulston, the man who owned Nor’West Air Taxis, would certainly be impressed.
