Register #395 | Slowdown after Rex and Bonza collapses

In what I can assume was a sad day at Rex HQ, VH-MFM – named in honour of former deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport Michael McCormack – was removed from the register and exported to Bermuda. Adding salt to the wound, another iconic Rex rego VH-REX has been returned to its lessor and stored in Jakarta, before it is soon returned to Australia to be operated by Virgin Australia (perhaps under a different mark).

While the rest of the market appears to be slowing, carrier Qantas has of course shown no signs of weakness amid the demise of challengers Rex and Bonza. The Flying Kangaroo welcomed a further two Airbus A319 jets this quarter, bound for Network Aviation (VH-8NS and -8NZ), as well as two A320s for budget arm Jetstar (VH-A5B and -A5C), along with its latest A321neo (VH-OYW). Jetstar also sent one of its A320-200s, delivered from Jetstar Asia in 2022, back to Singapore to be used once again by its Changi-based counterpart.

Meanwhile, Virgin Australia, which had seen consistent fleet growth in recent months, has appeared to press the brakes and welcomed no new jets to the register this quarter. Of course, we can all expect this to change shortly with the mass transfer of Rex planes back to Virgin colours – ouch.

A very strange interaction indeed was spotted on the register this quarter, with Darwin-based regional airline Airnorth taking delivery of two Embraer E-190 jets – leased from regional rival; Alliance Airlines. The two planes, VH-XFC and VH-XFM, were swapped on the register to be held by Capiteq Pty Ltd, the official company name for Airnorth. Airnorth has previously spoken out about its difficulties in securing new E190 jets, causing it to hold onto its older E170s for longer than it had hoped. Alliance appears not to share this issue, having added its 39th E190 to the register this quarter.

Also noteworthy, pilots of QantasLink operator Network Aviation were informed in early November that the Network intends to wet lease one E190 from Airnorth “on a temporary basis”, for November. Meanwhile, Qantas continues to boast a resoundingly successful ongoing wet lease agreement with Alliance Airlines on its growing E190 fleet. Historically, both Alliance and Airnorth have held wet lease and damp lease agreements with Qantas and Virgin Australia to support their regional and remote flying operations, so I suppose a little inter-airline metal swapping is not too far out of the realm of possibilities!

In the rotor world, Bankstown-based helicopter distributor and parts supplier added a further six Robinson helicopters to its fleet and the register this quarter, including five R44s and one larger, smoother, R66.