REGIONAL Express (Rex) has been granted an interim authorisation to co-ordinate with Qantas and Virgin Australia on 10 regional routes where it competes with the two airlines.
The authorisation was granted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) yesterday, after Rex announced it would cease operations with effect from from April 6 on Monday.
The 10 routes include the Mildura to Melbourne sector, as well as routes out of Sydney, Adelaide and Townsville.
Rex said it would enter into discussions with Qantaslink on servicing regional communities, but only if there are assistance packages given by federal, state and local governments to sustain services.
Rex deputy chairman John Sharp thanked the ACCC for granting the authorisation in just four days.
“This very prompt decision, and the one taken earlier with regards to the banks, will make a critical difference for all Australians, especially those in regional and rural communities, to survive this unprecedented crisis,” he said.
But he said more measures needed to be taken for airlines to survive the next three months.
“The federal, state and local governments all need to act urgently and decisively to determine specific assistance packages, so that airlines can at least provide the bare minimum of essential air service to keep the communities running,” he said.
“For example, Rex carries critical blood supplies daily to regional and remote communities on its network, as well as transporting COVID-19 testing samples from regional centres to capital cities for analysis.
“This may no longer be possible for the foreseeable future.”
Rex joins eight other regional airlines lodging a 24-hour ultimatum with the federal government appealing for more support as they only have “days before they collapse”.
“It would be most ironic if the deputy prime minister and leader of the nationals should be presiding over the collapse of all these regional carriers under his watch because he could not defend the interests of the regional and rural communities in the Morrison government,” Mr Sharp said.
Rex said it had not received any concrete proposals from the government and would make make an announcement with regards of the shutting down of its network in the coming days.
