Rex and Qantas face off over entry into regional market as Rex calls on ACCC to relaunch investigation

Rex has come out swinging against Qantas in a stoush over passenger services in a regional centre, calling on the ACCC to relaunch an investigation into the national airline. See the details.

Following the announcement Qantas would be pulling out of its Melbourne-Mount Gambier route, regional operator Rex has called on the ACCC to relaunch an investigation into the airline.

Qantas’ announcement caught people on the hop, with one Mount Gambier woman explaining how the she had been forced into a quick rethink of her international travel plans.

From August 15 QantasLink will no longer offer direct Melbourne-Mount Gambier flights, however there are no plans to terminate flights from Mount Gambier to Adelaide.

Passengers were welcomed to Mount Gambier Regional Airport after arriving on the first QantasLink flight from Melbourne in 2021. Picture: Jessica Ball

A Rex spokesperson blasted Qantas and said it had done permanent damage to regional markets.

“Large corporations should not be allowed to get away with breaking the law and callously causing colossal collateral damage to regional communities,” a spokesperson said.

“Many regional towns and cities that used to enjoy impeccable services from Rex — were pawns sacrificed to Qantas’ predatory moves.

“It is truly unconscionable that Qantas, having received close to $2 billion in government assistance to save it from collapse, could embark on these money-losing predatory actions using taxpayers’ money.”

A Rex Airlines plane at Sydney Domestic Airport. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Speaking to the ABC last week Rex deputy chairman John Sharp said more cancelled routes were sure to follow.

“Seeing that its predatory behaviour was not having the desired effect, Qantas now realises that its massive losses compounded by startling operational incompetence make it no longer sustainable to continue bleeding cash on these marginal regional routes,” he said.

Qantas has hit back at Rex’s claims, labelling the allegations as “baseless and hypocritical”.

“Rex has withdrawn from seven regional routes in the past few months, including to Kangaroo Island,” a spokesperson said.

“Rex operates 15 services between Melbourne and Mount Gambier compared to Qantas’ three services so it’s ridiculous to say that we were trying to flood the market.”

Other routes Rex has left include Melbourne-Albury, Sydney-Bathurst, Sydney-Grafton, Sydney-Lismore, Adelaide-Kangaroo Island, Sydney-Ballina and Sydney-Cooma.

Qantas has launched more than 50 new domestic and regional routes over the past two years, only 10 of which have been operated by Rex, a spokesperson said.

On March 31, the ACCC advised Qantas that it was taking no further action after investigating allegations from Rex that Qantas had acted anti-competitively.