Good Riddance: Virgin Australia Retiring A320s

Virgin Australia Regional Airlines is finally phasing out its unpopular all-Economy Airbus A320s. The last one is expected to exit the fleet by the middle of 2026.

On intra-WA routes, Virgin will replace its A320s with brand new, much more comfortable Embraer E190s – the first of which will arrive in October 2025.

Virgin Australia also currently uses the A320s on several routes outside of WA, including Perth-Adelaide, Perth-Darwin and Perth-Hobart. Virgin is gradually switching the aircraft it uses on these routes to more comfortable Boeing 737s.

These A320s originally came from Tigerair

The Virgin Australia Regional Airlines A320s had been part of Tigerair’s fleet, until the low-cost carrier went out of business at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although the Airbus A320 is a perfectly capable aircraft, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines did not change the cabin interiors after taking these particular A320s over from Tigerair. As a low-cost carrier, Tigerair offered poor legroom, no Business Class and no extra features on board such as charging outlets – and this carried through to the new operator.

While that’s fine for a budget airline, the A320 has not been a hit with Virgin Australia passengers. Some AFF members have “affectionately” labelled these particular A320s as “hellships” as they are not particularly comfortable.

Many Perth-based frequent flyers will undoubtedly be happy to see these planes take off into the sunset.

QantasLink taking over Virgin to Indian Ocean Territories

Unfortunately for Virgin Australia, the Airbus A320 was the only aircraft in its fleet capable of operating flights to Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Flights from Perth to both Australian Indian Ocean Territories are operated under an Australian government contract.

From 3 November 2025, QantasLink will take over the contract and service Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands from Perth instead. It will operate twice weekly services as QF361/362 and QF363/364 on Mondays and Fridays. The flights will stop to refuel in Learmonth on the outbound journey.

According to AeroRoutes, the last time Qantas served the Cocos Islands was in 1966 – as a refuelling stop on its weekly Lockheed Electra service to Johannesburg.

The new QantasLink flights are already on sale. And the good news for frequent flyers is that Qantas – unlike Virgin Australia – is releasing reward seats on this route!

For example, you could book a one-way Economy Classic Reward from Perth to Christmas Island for 20,700 Qantas Points + $51.

However, like Virgin Australia Regional Airlines, QantasLink will also use all-Economy Airbus A320s to the Australian Indian Ocean Territories. QantasLink’s A320s use the same seating layout as Jetstar, so those seats won’t necessarily be a whole lot more comfortable…