VARA’s E190s fan out onto Western Australia RPT routes
By Andrew Curran.
Virgin Australia sibling carrier Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) is now operating its E190-E2s on all but one of its regular passenger transport (RPT) routes within Western Australia, as well as on services to Darwin (DRW).
Schedules show VARA is using the regional jets to operate some frequencies on every intrastate RPT route in Western Australia except the Perth (PER) – Karratha (KTA) city pair.
The airline now operates four E190-E2s and has another four on order. They were acquired primarily to service fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) routes in Australia's largest mining and resources state, while also replacing the airline's Fokker and A320 fleets. However, Virgin Australia has never made a secret of its intention to deploy the Embraers on RPT services when FIFO demand slackens off.
FIFO flights generally operate to purpose-built airports across Western Australia, transporting mine workers to and from remote sites. Seats are typically not available for sale to the general public, unlike RPT services.
E190s stay FIFO focused but gradual creep into RPT ops
The bulk of flying undertaken by VARA's Embraers remains FIFO-related, with the aircraft regularly serving airports such as Boolgeeda (OCM), Geraldton (GET), Albany (ALH), West Angelas (WLP) and Gruyere (GYZ), among others, carrying employees of specific mining and resources companies.
FIFO operations are concentrated around particular days of the week, when mining sites conduct shift changes. As a result, the E190-E2s are more commonly seen operating RPT services during periods when they are not required for FIFO flying.
Virgin Australia and VARA operate seven RPT city pairs within Western Australia, all with Perth at one end of the route.
A data sample covering the seven days from August 1, 2026, shows the two airlines operating a combined 96 return flights across those seven city pairs. The E190-E2s are scheduled to operate 18 of those services, representing 18.75% of the total. The remaining flights are operated by Virgin Australia B737-800s and B737-8s.
A more detailed breakdown follows.
VARA E190's starting to appear on interstate RPT routes
The E190-E2 also appears on Virgin Australia's RPT services between Perth and Darwin, operating three of the six weekly return services, including flights on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The aircraft type will also begin appearing on the Perth – Adelaide (ADL) route from October 25, operating one of the 17 weekly return services. It will be used on the first Adelaide-bound departure from Perth each Sunday.
The arrival of the E190s, the first of which was delivered last September, have helped overhaul Virgin Australia’s closed charter business in Western Australia. It allowed VARA to end Fokker jets at the end of last year and more recently, retire its last A320-200. Both aircraft types are less efficient to operate and less popular with passengers than the more modern Embraers.
Photo: Embraer.
Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com