QantasLink takes on Rex in SA

Qantas has not nominated which other routes it might look at in South Australia alongside Adelaide-Port Lincoln, but the scenario is interesting.

There are only two real possibilities – Mt Gambier, and Olympic Dam, where Qantas presently codeshares on the Alliance Airlines’ F50 charters. Alliance wrested the route from 20 years of Kendell/Rex operation just before the mine boomed, and the route is now number three in the state. Many RPT flights to mine towns also carry blocks of contract FIFO passengers, but the reverse – offering RPT seats on charters – is rarer.