Rex Airlines warns terror “hysteria” could blow up their business plan and force them to shut routes

A SECURITY crackdown on small planes is “senseless” if buses with more passengers do not have to be screened, Rex Airlines says.

Rex’s submission states that most regional centres would be left without an air service.

• Regional airports can’t afford to implement anti-terrorism measures

A SECURITY crackdown on small planes is “senseless” when buses with more passengers do not have to be screened, Rex Airlines says.

The regional airline warns that increased costs, including for screening passengers, could force it to cancel routes to most regional centres, devastating communities.

In a submission to a Senate inquiry it argues that giving in to “hysteria” around terrorism and screening all passengers “would be so prohibitively expensive and onerous that normal life would be shut down”, pointing to buses, cinemas, and shopping malls as having more people at risk than in their small planes.

Most of Rex’s flights do not need screening as they have small planes, but the Government’s proposal for all flights to be screened would cost about $750,000 per airport, adding up to $34 million a year.

Rex’s operational profit last year was $4 million.

“Most regional centres would be left without an air service,” the submission states.

Rex also says the $20 million investment in the Kangaroo Island airport upgrade was “non-essential” and that the ongoing costs will spiral out of control and be passed on to airlines and consumers.

Rex accuses the Mount Gambier airport of creating a “white elephant”, building more infrastructure despite dwindling passenger numbers. Annual numbers have dropped from 117,000 a decade ago to 76,000.

The Federal Government wants security upgrades to regional airports with more scanning. Currently only passengers on planes weighing more than 20 tonnes have to be screened.

The Senate inquiry is examining the risks and benefits.

Nick Xenophon Team Senator Rex Patrick is on the committee, and pushing for more SA industry input.

He says regional, rural and remote aviation is “the lifeblood of the community”, driving economies such as mining and underpinning tourism.

“It’s getting much, much harder and there’s a decline in services that has a flow-on effect to a decline in economies,” he told The Advertiser.

The District Council of Grant, which owns and operates the Mount Gambier airport, blames Rex’s monopoly for increased prices, saying people had “no choice” on fares or flight availability, so chose to drive.

The council also warns that new security measures could drive up costs.