Traffic #390 | Virgin Australia welcomes first 737 MAX

Over 10 years after Virgin Australia placed its first order for the jet, the airline has finally taken delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX and welcomed in a “new era” of flying. Virgin welcomed the new jet, registration VH-8IA, into its ranks at the Boeing factory in Seattle on Wednesday, June 28 before the jet was ferried to Virgin’s HQ in Brisbane. VH-8IA, named ‘Monkey Mia’, touched down on Australian soil on June 30 after a brief stopover in Hawaii.

Virgin’s initial 2012 order included 23 MAX 8 aircraft, which was downsized in 2020 after the airline entered administration, and then later again restructured to include 25 of the larger 737 MAX 10 variant and eight MAX 8s. The COVID-19 pandemic, Virgin’s administration, and the turbulence caused at Boeing in the wake of the two fatal MAX crashes of 2018 and 2019 all resulted in years-long delays to the original delivery plan.