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Rex is set to expand its capital city jet network by flying between Adelaide and Brisbane from 30 October.
The route is the third new service launched in the last three months and comes after the airline first launched 737 flights in March 2021 after securing $150 million in investment.
Tickets will start from $149 one way, a comparable price to Virgin and Jetstar but less than half the standard deals offered by Qantas.
Rex’s deputy chairman, John Sharp, said, “Step by step, our footprint is gradually growing as we continue to spread our wings so we can achieve our goal of flying to, and between, all of our capital cities.”
The airline currently has eight 737s, with a ninth due imminently and plans to grow its fleet to 11 by the end of the financial year.
Brisbane Airport CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff argued that flights between the capitals of SA and Queensland had been “starved of capacity” and is currently sitting at just 88 per cent of pre-COVID levels.
“In 2019, 875,000 people flew between these two cities,” he said. “We look forward to growing that number for the benefit of the people of Queensland and South Australia.”
It comes after Australian Aviation broke the news earlier this week that Rex is set to launch a frequent flyer program within weeks to compete with Qantas and Virgin.
In the investor briefing for its full-year results, the carrier cited the introduction of a frequent flyer scheme as one reason for an expected lift in revenue in 2024. The scheme is planned to launch in the first quarter of the 2024 financial year, meaning it should be revealed by the end of September.
Rex has indicated plans to launch a loyalty program before, and its website has included greyed-out links for ‘Rex Flyer’ for years. The company already has a ‘Rex Business Flyer’ scheme for corporate travel, which allows businesses to earn two reward seats for every 18 eligible sectors flown.
Rex Business Flyer membership applications have currently been suspended, however, with a banner on the website saying a “new and improved Business Flyer program is coming soon”.
Rex Flyer would be the third entrant into what is often a cutthroat frequent flyer market, with Velocity and Qantas Frequent Flyer frequently attempting to outdo each other and poach members.
Virgin Australia earlier this month attempted to entice Qantas Frequent Flyer members with a trial status-matching offer for those who have achieved Gold status or above in “other Australian airline loyalty programs”.
Virgin and Qantas’s respective loyalty programs have been at war for years, with Virgin last year launching a similar ‘Switch-a-Roo’ scheme to lure the Flying Kangaroo’s frequent flyer customers over to Velocity.
