Virgin Australia has announced an agreement with Boeing to order 23 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, the first in Australia. To align with its current capacity plan for the next three years, Virgin Australia has also delayed the delivery of some of its Boeing 737NG aircraft to after 2016, leaving 31 scheduled deliveries of Boeing 737-800 aircraft between 2013 and 2016.

Etihad Airways’ equity stake in Virgin Australia Holdings has now reached 4.99 per cent, the Abu Dhabi-based airline has confirmed. The company remains interested in “building a larger stake over time”, Etihad said earlier, but will only do so after receiving the necessary regulatory approvals.

In a first for an Australian airline, Virgin Australia has launched a trial of environmentally-friendly biodiesel in its ground service equipment.

Virgin Australia has revealed the stylish new design and interior refresh of the Boeing 777 fleet of aircraft. The re-design, which will see the complete re-design of seat fabrics, carpets and curtain dividers, will continue being rolled out accross the Boeing 777 fleet for the remainder of the year.

Virgin Australia Holdings (VAH) today announced a proposed new structure of its business designed to ensure ongoing compliance with the Air Navigation Act (ANA) which limits foreign ownership of Australian international airlines to 49%.

Virgin Australia is commencing daily Airbus A330 services from Melbourne for the first time, with tickets going on sale today for flights to Perth and Sydney.