iscover
Rex has taken delivery of its seventh 737, which the business said would allow it to add extra capacity between the ‘Golden Triangle’ routes of Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne.
The airline’s deputy chairman, John Sharp, said it would also allow it to meet the increasing demand for its services given the “shocking reliability of both Qantas and Virgin”.
“Demand for Rex flights is so great that we are urgently looking for another two Boeing 737- 800NGs which we hope to deploy by Q2–Q3 of this financial year,” Sharp added.
The 737-800, currently registered as 2-WTFL, departed Montpellier on 21 August and landed in Dubai before continuing on to Kuala Lumpur on 29 August. It finally undertook its final journey to Australia on Tuesday, departing at 11:09am and landing in Darwin 5:53pm.
One hour later, it took off to continue on to Brisbane, where it landed at 10:59pm. It’s set to be registered as VH-MFM.
Earlier this year, Rex said it could even expand its 737 fleet to 30 over the coming five to seven years, with an aim to enter one new plane into service every two to three months.
The news was revealed by Rex chairman Lim Kim Hai at the iconic Singapore Airshow, and nearly doubles Rex’s previous public fleet expansion goals.
“That’s a very good medium-term objective,” Lim said. “There’s a lot to be said for economies of scale.”
Rex launched its first 737 flights between major cities in March 2021 and has since expanded its network to include flights between Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, and Canberra.
Rex recently revealed a loss before tax of $68 million, which Lim said he was “mildly pleased” about, given the lingering impact of COVID-19 meant the airline’s recovery didn’t begin until February 2020.
“Prior to that, both the domestic jet operations and regional Saab operations were either suspended or greatly reduced,” he said.
The business’ results for FY22 saw revenue hit $319 million, including COVID-19 grants of $32 million. This was, however, significantly lower than the $87 million in help it received in FY21.
“The operational statistics for the new financial year have been very encouraging and indicate that we have turned the corner.
”In July, the domestic jet operations load factor was at an all-time high of 86 per cent whilst the regional Saab operations saw higher passenger numbers, revenue and load factors compared to pre-COVID-19 figures despite 5 per cent less flying.”
Ashley
says:Sharp can’t help himself in having a ‘go’ at QANTAS, & now, Virgin, every time he opens his mouth.
ALL airlines’, & airports world-wide are suffering.
Rex would be too, but Sharp won’t admit to that, of course.
Boeing #7 means an additional $60,000 a month lease fees’, plus for the other six, $360,000 each month.
There’s still lease fees on four old Saabs to be paid, too.
That’s a lot of money to be found before wages, fuel, engineering, & other ancillary costs’.