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The federal government has guaranteed regional flight bookings for Rex while the airline remains in voluntary administration.
In a statement, Transport Minister Catherine King announced that passengers on all regional flights booked through Rex since it entered administration at 9:31pm on 30 July will “either fly or get their money back”.
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“This will give customers confidence to continue booking regional flights with Rex – flights that allow them to stay connected to family, friends, healthcare and other services – while also helping to maintain regional aviation in Australia,” she said.
“My department will continue to work with the administrator on their plans for the continuation of services to regional communities. We also expect the administrator to honour and prioritise the entitlements of Rex employees.
“This guarantee is a message to regional Australia that we know how important reliable air services are to you and that we are not going to allow your communities to be left behind.”
The move is another strong signal that, given its importance to regional communities, the government does not want Rex to fail,
“Rex operates one of Australia’s largest regional air networks and provides essential connectivity to move people and critical freight on 41 routes to regional and remote communities, including 21 routes that are only serviced by Rex,” Minister King said.
“Rex’s continuation is in the best interests of Australia – and the Government is working closely with the administrators to ensure a strong regional aviation presence now and into the future.”
The move has been welcomed by Rex’s administrators EY Australia, with Sam Freeman, in his capacity as voluntary administrator of the Rex Group, saying it is a “positive step toward securing the future for Rex, Rex’s 1,200-plus employees and all Australians who rely on these services to connect their communities”.
“We have experienced firsthand the importance of Rex’s regional services to the communities the airline serves and would like to express our gratitude to the Federal Government for stepping in with this support,” he said.
“The Federal Government’s flight booking guarantee will give Australians confidence to continue booking to or from a regional destination on Rex, ensuring that in the unlikely event that their service is not delivered – they will be entitled to receive a full refund.
“The guarantee will help Rex to keep flying while we undertake the recapitalisation of the airline and secure its future. We’re currently undertaking a process to find an investor committed to a sustainable commercial regional network.”
Rex’s domestic jet operations have been scrapped as part of the administration process, with Virgin Australia, along with Qantas and Jetstar, all rebooking Rex domestic passengers onto their own flights free of charge.
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says:Irrespective whether Rex regional is under administration or not, we are left with a “hostile” business situation between the owner/s and operational management of that group and the Fed. Govt. understandably has stepped in to try and facilitate an amicable continuation of Rex regional services. Clearly Rex has serviceability issues with the 340 fleet which is not new, so the storm clouds continue to develop for Rex regional and I frankly can’t see a positive result for them other than selling off the skeleton and put the services up for tender. Regional air transport in this country is an essential service so whilst we may well experience some short-term economic pain so be-it. Here’s a chance for you VOZ, go for it!