Competition is forcing regional airline Rex to raise fares and cut routes
Rex says tough regional competition pushed by the ACCC forces a hard choice. The airline must either cancel routes or charge passengers more.
Regional airline Rex is caught in a bind. When competition cuts into its numbers, half-empty planes cannot cover costs.
Rex must raise fares for outback travellers or pull the service entirely. In 2022, Rex faced this on the Melbourne to Albury run.
It offered 40,000 seats a year but only 22,000 passengers used them. Qantas added another 31,000 seats that same year.
Rex pulled out. Today no airline flies that route.
Rex entered voluntary administration in July 2024. It was rescued with $40 million in taxpayer funding.
It was sold to American company Air T in December 2025. The Royal Flying Doctor Service told parliament this week that regional airlines are critical to its work.
Without them, rural healthcare becomes a crisis. Queensland and Western Australia subsidise Rex services.
But other routes operate without that safety net.
- 40,000 per year
- Seats offered
- 22,000
- Passengers booked
- 40 million dollars
- Taxpayer rescue package
- Air T
- Purchased by
Why it mattersBush travellers and remote patients depend on regional airlines. But pure competition cannot keep them flying. Without subsidies, services vanish.
AustraliaAustralians in regional and remote areas face higher fares or no flights at all as Rex struggles to survive competition in thin markets.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 14 h ago
