Adam Thorn

A Jetstar A320 with 163 passengers on board flew within just 180 metres vertically of a two-seater aircraft as it approached to land at Byron Bay.

Victor Pody shares his best photos while onboard Rex’s first-ever commercial flight between Melbourne and Sydney on Monday.

In an apparent dig at its rival, QantasLink CEO John Gissing marked the launch by arguing the move would offer locals “more choice” on what was “previously a monopoly route”.

Rex will expand its 737 capital city network to operate twice-daily services to both Adelaide and the Gold Coast in a month.

The Boeing 737-8FE, VH-RQC msn 33797, departed Melbourne at 7:21am as flight ZL18 and arrived in Sydney at 8:25am.

The organisation said it was now “confident the aircraft is safe” and was happy to follow a similar ruling by the FAA in November.