THERE is no indication that Rex Airlines will cease its domestic operations following the collapse of flights between capital cities, according to Mildura Airport chief executive Trevor Willcock.
Regional Express Holdings Limited and a number of its subsidiaries under the Rex Group entered voluntary administration overnight Tuesday with only the 737 fleet between major cities impacted.
In a statement released by the company, a spokesperson said all regional planes were still flying as scheduled, however domestic flights between major cities had been cancelled.
Virgin Australia offered to assist Rex customers with an existing ticket on a flight cancelled due to the administration process, with the opportunity to transfer their ticket free of charge to the 13 overlapping Virgin Australia services.
Mr Willcock said he had “definitely nor heard anything” about the airline cancelling or altering its inbound or outbound Mildura flights.
He said the airport had received Rex’s August and September schedules this week which were “all as they were prior to these events”.
“The regional operations are carrying on as normal and it is business as usual at this stage,” he said.
“We were informed that 737 operations have been ceased, (however) the regional routes have always been pretty profitable and successful as we understand.”
Member for Mildura Jade Benham said Rex’s 737 routes were grounded because “they are simply not profitable”, however Mildura remained “a very, very good route for Rex”.
“At this stage, there’s no changes for Mildura, but it does make everyone a little bit nervous and I get that particularly so close after the collapse of Bonza,” she said.
“But at the moment we’re OK.”
Ernst & Young Australia have been appointed administrators and there was some speculation that the airline may require additional government assistance to keep planes in the air.
Member for Mallee Anne Webster said Rex must remain as an essential service for Sunraysia and regional Australia.
“A third of Rex’s work ensures that regional Australians can access specialists in capital cities, and indeed, flies medical services into regions almost every single day,” she said.
“Rex is an essential service and guarantees health services to regional Australians – it cannot be allowed to close.”
Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King said it was “a relief” that all regional routes were continuing.
“Rex’s continuation is in the best interests of regional Australians, the travelling public, its workers and the aviation sector more broadly,” she said.
“And the government will work very closely with the administrators to ensure a strong regional aviation presence in the future.
“The government will act expeditiously, but we will also be acting carefully in this space.
“It is a complex situation with multiple commercial arrangements in place, but we do stand ready to work very closely with the administrators, because that regional presence is absolutely vital.”
Ms King said she was pleased that administrators had already confirmed that there was sufficient funding available to maintain the regional services throughout the period of administration.
Domestic aviation statistics released by the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics last week showed that the Melbourne-Mildura flight route had the biggest growth of any commercial flight route in Australia between the year ending April 2023 and year ending April 2024.
Across the 12 months, there were 176,900 travellers on the route, an increase of 18.8 per cent, making it the 48th most common flight route in Australia.
