Borghetti stresses that if demand falls on any of the domestic routes where the A330s are used, the aircraft could be switched to international routes, although the carrier currently has no plans to do that.

He also says Virgin Australia is evaluating its future widebody needs beyond 2017, with both the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 “in the mix”.

This evaluation is in its preliminary stages; Borghetti expects a decision within the next 12 months.

Virgin Australia reported a statutory profit after tax of A$22.8 million (US$23.7 million) for the fiscal year through June 30, an improvement of A$90.6 million from the previous year’s loss. Borghetti says this proves that the carrier’s major restructuring effort of the last few years is succeeding.

One of the major aspects of the overhaul was forming strategic alliances with overseas carriers, enabling Virgin Australia to dramatically expand its international offering without adding aircraft to the carrier's fleet. This resulted in code-share and interline revenue increasing 158% in the 2011/2012 fiscal year.