Virgin Australia to take delivery of new Airbus A330s from April 2012; start Perth – Melbourne A330 services from 14 May 2012

16 January 2012 © David Eyre:

During April 2012, Virgin Australia’s third Airbus A330-243 VH-XFC (cn 1293) will be delivered – the first of four brand new A330s in their fleet.

The new Virgin Australia A330-243 aircraft are:

• VH-XFC (cn 1293) – To be delivered April 2012
• VH-XFD (cn 1306) – To be delivered May 2012
• VH-XFE (cn 1319) – To be delivered October 2012
• VH-… (cn not yet known) – To be delivered December 2012.

The current leased ex-Emirates A330-243 aircraft are:

• VH-XFA “Cottesloe Beach” (cn 365) – ex A6-EAB
• VH-XFB “Cable Beach” (cn 372) – ex A6-EAC.

With the delivery of the first of these new A330s, from 14 May 2012, Virgin Australia is to commence twice daily Airbus A330 services between Melbourne and Perth. Airfares are $195 one-way.

Currently, the airline’s Melbourne-Perth services are operated by Boeing 737-800s, and the Airbus A330s are used exclusively between Sydney and Perth.

The schedule for the new Melbourne A330 service from 14 May 2012 is as follows:

• DAILY: DJ685 arr 15:15 / DJ694 dep 17:30
• DAILY: DJ691 arr 19:45 / DJ680 dep 08:30