.jpg) Virgin Australia Regional AirlinesFokker 100 | |||||||
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| Founded | 1963 (1963) (asCarnarvon Air Taxis) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | Perth Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Velocity | ||||||
| Fleet size | 8 | ||||||
| Destinations | 14 | ||||||
| Parent company | Virgin Australia Holdings | ||||||
| Headquarters | Perth,Western Australia,Australia | ||||||
| Key people | Nathan Miller (Executive General Manager) | ||||||
| Employees | 450 | ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) is an Australianregional airline based inPerth, servicing key towns in the state ofWestern Australia. The airline also flies interstate to destinations such asAdelaide,Darwin,Melbourne andAlice Springs. Formerly known asSkywest, in April 2013, the airline was purchased byVirgin Australia Holdings as its new regional offshoot.[1] On 21 April 2020, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines' parent company, Virgin Australia Holdings went into voluntary administration due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[2]
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Virgin Australia Regional was formed in 1963 asCarnarvon Air Taxis flying charter flights with smallgeneral aviation aircraft out ofCarnarvon, Western Australia. In 1979, it changed its name to Skywest Aviation and moved toPerth'sJandakot Airport. In 1980,Skywest Airlines was formed (ICAO code OZW), based atPerth Airport, and acquiredStillwell Airlines and its routes; the combined fleet included 39 aircraft, making it the second largest commuter airline in Australia at the time. The Skywest Airlines fleet included a mix of general aviation types and small airliners includingGAF N-24 Nomads,Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirantes,Beechcraft King Air 200s andFairchild SA-227 Metro IIIs, as well as smaller types such asCessna 182 Skylanes andPiper Aztecs.
In 1982, the controlling companies merged Skywest Airlines withTranswest Airlines. At the time Skywest operated 16 aircraft and TransWest 25.
Then in 1983, it was proposed to merge Skywest withEast-West Airlines, both were owned by the Devereaux group. The merger did not eventuate, but east–west operated flights in Western Australia on Skywest's behalf. In 1987 Skywest lost the GovernmentCoastwatch contract, which severely weakened the business. The company was bought out by thePerron Group and then on-sold shortly thereafter toTNT/News Limited and began operating under theAnsett banner. The east–west aircraft were divested for operations in Queensland and were later absorbed into Ansett. At this time, Skywest was operating most of its services with fiveBAe Jetstream 31s.
In 1998, Ansett introducedFokker 50s into Skywest service.
The airline continued to be owned by Ansett Australia, and operated flights on behalf of Ansett until the parent's demise in 2002. Skywest was then successfully purchased by private investors. In 2004, it was the subject of ahostile, but ultimately successful, takeover attempt by Singapore-based investment company CaptiveVision Capital. This takeover succeeded in gaining a majority stake. On 8 February 2007, news broke that the airline may be the target of a tie-up with Singapore-basedTiger Airways,[3] although no business arrangements were ever concluded. Between 2004 and 2012, Skywest Airlines was entirely owned by CaptiveVision Capital which in turn was a subsidiary of ASX and London Stock Exchange AIM market-quoted Skywest Airlines.[4]
Since 2004, under Skywest Airlines ownership, the fleet expanded from seven aircraft to 18 aircraft. Skywest's firstAirbus A320 was registered in April 2010. It was delivered Perth on 23 October 2010 and operated charter services between Perth and Cloudbreak forFortescue Metals Group.[5] Skywest announced that it had optioned a second A320 on 12 May 2011.[6]
On 10 January 2011, it was announced thatVirgin Australia had established a 10-year alliance under which Skywest would operate up to 18 turboprops in the bigger carrier's colours. The alliance with the Perth-based airline was part of new push by Virgin Australia into regional Australia. The agreement saw the airlines codeshare on some of each other's flights. Virgin Australia and Skywest customers also could earn and redeem frequent flyer points on each other's networks. The aircraft were leased from Avation plc (LSE: AVAP) with the first four arriving in 2011.
In April 2012,Virgin Australia Holdings purchased 10% of Skywest Airlines,[7][8] followed by a full takeover bid on 30 October 2012. It had received in principle support from the Board but the takeover would require shareholder and regulatory approval.[9][10] On 11 April 2013, Virgin Australia Holdings completed its 100% acquisition of Skywest Airlines.[11] From 7 May 2013, the use of the Skywest brand was discontinued and the airline became part of the Virgin Australia brand, however it continues to operate under its current Air Operator's Certificate and its own management team.[12]
In April 2022,Virgin Australia announced its plans to phase out theFokker 100 aircraft, and replace it with 10 year old Boeing 737-700s leased fromKLM Royal Dutch Airlines. These will be operated by Virgin Australia's AOC for Virgin Australia Regional Airlines, leaving the Airbus A320 fleet solely operated by Virgin Australia Regional Airlines. The Group currently operated 10 x F100 aircraft at the time of the order across its operations in Western Australia, with the F100 fleet gradually transitioned out and partly replaced by 737-700s from first quarter 2023.[13]
As of July 2018[update], Virgin Australia Regional Airlines flew regularly to the following destinations:[14]
Since Virgin Australia's take over, two original WA Coastal Network (Skywest) destinations have been cancelled (Exmouth & Busselton) with Albany, Esperance and Ravensthorpe also ending on 27 February 2016.[20]
In addition to scheduled flights, Virgin Australia Regional has contracts with various mining companies to service the burgeoning Western Australian mining industry; via regularfly-in fly-out air charter flights to remote minesites.[citation needed]
Skywest previously held a contract to fly staff toTelfer, however in December 2010 this contract was terminated in favour of a contract withAlliance Airlines.
On 27 April 2012, Skywest finished flying toFortescue Dave Forrest Airport (Cloudbreak Airport) for Fortescue Metals group, after losing the contract toQantas' fly-in-fly-out-charter subsidiaryNetwork Aviation.
Commencing in 2004, Island Bound Holidays chartered a Skywest Fokker 100 to undertake flights to Bali fromPort Hedland.[21] In 2010 Skywest commenced operation of scheduled services to Bali from Port Hedland. Skywest also offered flights fromGeraldton to Bali in 2011.
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As of August 2025[update], Virgin Australia Regional Airlines operates the following aircraft:[22]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J | Y | Total | ||||
| Airbus A320-200 | 4 | — | — | 180 | 180 | All aircraft inherited from the now-defunctTigerair Australia. |
| Embraer E190-E2 | 1[23] | 7[24] | 8[25] | 92[26] | 100 | Deliveries from October 2025.[27] |
| Fokker 100 | 2 | — | — | 100 | 100 | To be replaced by Embraer E190-E2.[27] |
| Total | 7 | 7 | ||||
The fleet is used significantly in the Australian state ofWestern Australia, including a number of charter services which support the growing regional centres. Flights to other destinations such asAdelaide,Darwin andAlice Springs also take place. All aircraft are fitted in an all-economy seat layout. Virgin Australia Regional's Airbus A320-200 fleet can often be seen operating flights to and fromMelbourne, although the majority of their flights are supporting the growingFokker 100 network in Western Australia and neighbouring states. Since March 2022, all of the A320s that are currently in the fleet were from the now defunctTigerair Australia, which was a fully owned subsidiary ofVirgin Australia Holdings. In August 2024, Virgin Australia announced that they had placed a firm order for 8Embraer E190-E2 aircraft. They are planned to enter the fleet in 2025 and will be replacing the remainder of theFokker 100 fleet.[28]
The airline has removed the following aircraft types from passenger service:
| Aircraft | Total | Delivered | Exit date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 72-500 | 6 | 2015 | 2020 | Retired early when the company entered voluntary administration. |
| ATR 72-600 | 8 |
In November 2007, Skywest joined the thenVirgin Blue's loyalty program Velocity Rewards (now calledVelocity). Velocity Points can be earned on all Virgin Australia Regional flights, excluding charter flights. Points awarded vary from 0.5 per mile to one per mile, depending on fare class.[29]
The Virgin Australia Group has today announced a temporary suspension of international services and further cuts to domestic capacity in response to expanded government travel restrictions and increased impacts from COVID-19 on travel demand. In response to weakened demand, the Group will [also] reduce domestic capacity by around 50 per cent until 14 June 2020.
Media related toVirgin Australia Regional Airlines at Wikimedia Commons
