The rise of Virgin Australia, the end of its 777s

After hearing the age-old adage “Australia simply can’t sustain two airline groups” and in the wake of dozens of airlines that have failed to thrive Down Under, the Virgin Australia redemption arc is truly a remarkable one

Falling into voluntary administration in the early months of the pandemic, many held serious doubts that Australia’s second-largest airline group would even survive to see the end of 2020. And yet, despite the treacherous post-pandemic waters, Virgin emerged in November 2020 under the new ownership of Bain Capital and has only gone from strength to strength.

As part of the administration and restructuring process, Virgin axed long-haul international operations, and thus its need for its Boeing 777 fleet. The carrier also offloaded its ATR, Airbus A330s and Tiger A320s in order to slim down to a mid-tier domestic carrier with a simplified all-Boeing 737 fleet.