Fokkers for sale as Virgin Australia rethinks

Virgin Australia will sell its eight 46-seat Fokker 50 turboprop aircraft in the first half of next year.

Virgin will sell off its fleet of Fokker 50s.

Virgin Australia will sell its entire fleet of eight 46-seat Fokker 50 turboprop aircraft in the first half of next year as its regional operation adjusts to the new reality in the resources sector and a change to its route structure in Western Australia.

The decision to decommission and dispose of the older aircraft comes after Virgin Australia Regional Airlines decided not to recontest the government regulated routes in Western Australia and in the face of increased demand for bigger planes on resources routes. The move also simplifies Virgin Australia Regional Airline’s fleet and reduces costs.

The airline blamed “a negative commercial outlook’’ for the F50s that emerged from an extensive review for the decision to axe the planes. The airline is looking at options to redeploy as many staff as possible but it is understood there could be some redundancies.

The F50s had been used on regulated routes to Albany, Esperance and Ravensthorpe in the state’s southwest, as well as flights to Geraldton, charter and fly-in/fly-out services. Virgin decided not to apply for the three regulated routes for commercial reasons.

VARA has acquired four additional Fokker 100 jets in the last year, two of them from Queensland’s Alliance Aviation, and is in the process of upgrading the interiors on all 14 of its F100s. The airline also operates an Airbus A320 on resources routes. It can call on Virgin’s Boeing 737s and uses its newer ATR72 turboprops in Western Australia.

Virgin Australia spokeswoman Danielle Keighery said the F100s had better utilisation than the F50s and better serviced many of the airline’s clients.

“With any route that potentially has the F50 on it, we’re either using our ATRs or F100s to actually service those,’’ she said.

The decision to quit the F50s means Virgin’s fleet now comprises Airbus A330 and A320, Boeing 777 and 737, ATR 72, Embraer 190 and Fokker 100 aircraft.

Qantas has also been re­structuring its West Australian and Queensland operations and redeploying aircraft as demand from the resources sector continues to taper.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has said he expects the softness in the resources sector to continue but that other sectors of the economy are strengthening.