Virgin Australia Embraer E-190 VH-ZPJ Departs Australia for good

On Friday 29 July, Virgin Australia Embraer E-190 VH-ZPJ looked to leave Australia for good, departing Brisbane for Apia (Tonga) as VOZ9901.  It should continue to Honolulu (Hawaii) and eventually to Nashville (Tennessee) in the coming days for post-lease maintenance.

VH-ZPJ at Gladstone Airport recently  (File photo taken by Col  ©)

VH-ZPJ is the fifth and final Virgin Australia E-190 that will be withdrawn from the fleet (for now) and be transferred to operate for Aero Mexico.  VH-ZPD, VH-ZPG, VH-ZPF and VH-ZPE have already left Australia - see referring Blog post HERE.

VH-ZPJ was originally delivered to Virgin Blue at the end of September / start of October 2008 and took up the name 'Bambino Blue'.  After re-painting into the new Virgin Australia livery, it then wore the name ‘Jervis Bay’.

It's sad to see the E-190s disappearing - it was also reported in mid-June that Virgin Australia will eventually withdraw all Embraer E-190 jets, as well as between four and six ATR 72 turboprops, on a cost-cutting program across all parts of the airline which will also include an unspecified number of job losses.

It was interesting to note that VH-ZPJ's final visit to CQ was to Hervey Bay (Fraser Coast) Airport on Tuesday 26 July when it operated the scheduled VOZ1555/1556 service from and back to Sydney.