VIRGIN AUSTRALIA: biggest Boeing 737 is coming — eventually

Virgin Australia has put a date, of sorts, on the next stage of its fleet renewal. It expects to receive its first Boeing 737-10 in late 2027. That’s like more than 12 months away. The PR department must have been light on for stories to report for this to be a media release!

The 737-10 will be the largest aircraft in Virgin Australia’s fleet. It gives the airline 20 more seats per aircraft and more flexibility across its domestic and short-haul international network. We’re talking Sydney–Melbourne–Brisbane, longer domestic sectors such as East coast to Perth, and the leisure-heavy international network, where extra seats can make a meaningful difference.

Virgin has 10 firm orders for the Boeing 737-10, the largest member of the 737 MAX family. The aircraft has not yet entered commercial service globally, with certification still sitting with US regulators. So, queue delays. Virgin says the expected late-2027 timing reflects Boeing’s ‘positive progress’ with those approvals.

More seats, same basic fleet plan

For Virgin, the 737-10 is less glamour and more about efficiency. The airline is a Boeing 737 operator, and the larger aircraft allows added capacity without changing aircraft type.

That means crew, maintenance, scheduling and fuel efficiencies.

The airline is already three years into operating Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, with 19 Boeing 737-8s now in service. Virgin boasts those aircraft have saved around 30 million litres of fuel and cut more than 77,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions compared with older-generation 737-800s. Sort of a raspberry to Qantas.

A further seven 737-8s are due before the end of 2026, which would take Virgin’s 737-8 fleet to 26 aircraft.

2PAXfly Takeout

The Boeing 737-10 will not change Virgin Australia overnight. Late 2027 is still some distance away, and Boeing certification timelines are not exactly carved in stone, or indeed carved at all.

The choice to stay within the 737 MAX aircraft family while adding more seats,is a sensible one, especially for an airline still in its early development with its new owners.

For passengers, the upside might be an extra row of Business Class seats, or at least some with extra leg room Economy X.