Effective 1 May 2023, Rex Airlines has cut back flights on nine regional routes across four states.
Affected towns include Sydney, Wagga Wagga and Broken Hill in NSW, Adelaide, Mount Gambier, Whyalla, Port Lincoln and Ceduna in South Australia, Cairns and Bamaga in Queensland, and also Melbourne.
According to the ABC, Rex network strategy general manager Warrick Lodge put the decision to decrease the services down to a “chronic shortage of airline professionals, particularly pilots and engineers, as well as the severe disruption in the supply chain of aircraft and engine parts”.
“We do understand the impact these adjustments would have on the regional communities affected as Rex is the lifeline for these communities,” said Lodge, who described the changes as “minor”.
“We pledge that we will reinstate the services once the situation has stabilised.”
The move impacts the carrier’s fleet of 61 Saab 340 Turboprop aircraft.
Getting “tougher” in FNQ
One of the town’s affected by the cuts is Bamaga in Far North Queensland, which will see a drop from 12 flights per week to just four.
Talei Elu, Queensland’s Young Australian of the Year for 2023, said flight reductions would hurt education, health and culture in the region, the ABC reported.
“These decisions are made really independent of us,” said Elu, who hales from nearby Seisia.
“We now have to deal with the ramifications of that, unfortunately, and being already in a region where it’s a low socio-economic earning region, we’ve had transportation issues generally.
“It’s a beautiful place to live, but it is a tough place to live – and it just feels like it is getting tougher with this news.”
Northern Peninsula Area (NPA) Regional Council acting chief executive Kate Gallaway said the decision would “obviously just make it a lot harder for people to not only have to be able to conduct business here in the NPA, but travel to other places and Far North Queensland … for family and cultural events”.
“When there isn’t availability for people to fly, people have to risk it on the road to travel to Cairns,” she remarked.
Routes affected:
- Cairns-Bamaga
- Sydney-Broken Hill
- Broken Hill-Adelaide
- Sydney-Wagga Wagga
- Melbourne-Wagga Wagga
- Mount Gambier-Melbourne
- Whyalla-Adelaide
- Port Lincoln-Adelaide
- Ceduna-Adelaide
Last month, Rex reported a half-yearly after-tax loss of AU$16.5M for the first six months of the 2022/23 financial year (1HFY23).
Meanwhile, in February, Rex announced it had signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to lease two B737-800NG aircraft, bringing its fleet of Boeing aircraft to nine.
Earlier this month, Rex farewelled co-founder Max Hazelton.
