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Virgin Australia cutting a third of Boeing 737 fleet
Virgin Australia 2.0 under new Bain Capital ownership is getting rid of as much excess baggage as it can.
As well as shrinking the workforce by about one-third, it will also offload a third of its fleet of Boeing 737 planes.
It will return them to lessors as part of its restructuring plan.
It has already announced it will ditch its wide body Boeing 777 long haul aircraft.
It currently has 85 Boeing 737s.
"Once demand returns, it remains our goal to grow our fleet to 75 Boeing 737 aircraft," the airline said.
Creditors voted in favour of accepting the Bain Capital takeover which should be finalised in the coming weeks.
Virgin has also shut down its low cost brand Tigerair Australia for good.
The fleet downsizing and general lack of demand will mean several regional routes will be suspended ‘for the foreseeable future.’
It includes Ayers Rock, Tamworth and Port Macquarie.
"We remain committed to regional Australia and we plan to continue to fly to 20 regional destinations in Australia. We will continue to review our network as travel restrictions ease and demand returns," an airline spokesperson said.
Written by Ray Montgomery, Asia Pacific editor
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TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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