Virgin Blue has confirmed six 74-seat jets presently operating on the route will be sold, with a 104-seat aircraft set to replace them.

Albury Airport has the capacity to accommodate the larger aircraft proposed by Virgin Blue.

The Embraer E170s will be sold as part of a network-wide review of unprofitable operations.

“It’s a fleet decision and not a network decision,” Virgin Blue group corporate communication manager Colin Lippiatt said yesterday.

Virgin Blue has 15 E190 jets in its fleet and Mr Lippiatt said the larger aircraft flying between Albury and Sydney would be the “next logical step”, though he could not be specific about time frames.

“We move these aircraft around depending on the routes and demands,” he said.

“E190s might have already been into Albury.

“We can’t give a specific time frame for the sale of the E170s because that obviously depends on the market offers we receive over time.

“It’s not necessarily a case of you will not see the E190 until such time we’ve gotten rid of the E170.

“On other routes we operate, if we know there is particularly heavy demand in a certain period of time, we will put a larger aircraft on.

“For example, last Monday we had a backlog of guests wanting to get out of Cairns due to weather disruptions, so we upgraded E190s and 737s to allow for the extra demand.”

The review has already resulted in the end of the loss-making domestic route operating in New Zealand.

The Embraer E170s are estimated to be worth $30 million each and were bought in 2006 to challenge Qantas’ dominance of the regional airline market.

The Embraer jets reach their destination up to 15 minutes quicker than propeller-driven flights.

Albury Council’s engineering director Brad Ferris said the situation was business as usual.

“The advantage of Albury is we get very good service from Qantas, Rex, Virgin and Brindabella airlines,” he said.

“It’s about frequency of service, so the more frequency gives people more flexibility.

“It gives them choice of when to go and when to come home.”