Virgin Australia has introduced the first brand-new aircraft to Western Australia’s charter market this century with the entry into service of its first Embraer E190-E2 aircraft ‘Coral Bay’ (VH-E2A). The aircraft completed its inaugural commercial flight (VA9217) operated by Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) from Perth to Boolgeeda on Monday.

Coral Bay is the first of eight E190-E2s that Virgin has on order with Embraer . VARA is acquiring them as replacements for its aging fleet of Fokker 100 s, all of which are more than 30 years old. The E190-E2 offers significant advantages over the Fokkers when operating to smaller airstrips in the hot and rugged terrain of Western Australia, including a longer range, a lower noise profile, as well as being 30% more fuel efficie

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