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Virgin reduces Boeing 737 MAX order

Virgin Australia has reduced its order for Boeing MAX planes.

Virgin Australia has reduced its order for Boeing MAX planes. Photo: AAP

Virgin Australia says it has restructured its order for Boeing Co 737 MAX planes, reducing the number on order to 25 from 48 and delaying the first deliveries by two years to mid-2023.

Australia’s second-biggest airline, now owned by US private equity group Bain Capital, said in a statement it would take 25 of the largest variant, the 737 MAX 10, but not the 23 smaller 737 MAX 8s it had ordered previously.

Bain’s purchase of Virgin closed last month, allowing the airline to exit from voluntary administration.

Virgin has removed 777 and Airbus SE A330 wide-body planes from its fleet, centring its operations around the 737 as part of an effort to cut costs as it repositions as a largely domestic mid-tier airline rather than a full-service carrier.

“The restructured agreement and changes to the delivery schedule of the Boeing 737 MAX 10 gives us the flexibility to continually review our future fleet requirements, particularly as we wait for international travel demand to return,” Virgin CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said.

She said the 737 MAX 10 would be deployed on high-density domestic and short-haul international routes.

That variant remains in development and regulators have not yet certified it.

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