Regional Express Airlines to co-ordinate flight schedules with its rivals Qantas and Virgin

The extraordinary move is designed to keep regional communities connected throughout the coronavirus crisis.

Rex will continue to operate on a number of regional routes after the competition watchdog authorised the carrier to co-ordinate flight schedules with rivals QantasLink and Virgin Australia. Picture: AAP

In an extraordinary move designed to keep regional communities connected throughout the coronavirus crisis, the competition watchdog will allow Regional Express Airlines to co-ordinate flight schedules with its rivals Qantas and Virgin on 10 key routes.

The interim authorisation was granted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission following an urgent request from the airlines, which will be able to share revenue from the services.

ACCC chair Rod Sims said the authorisation was conditional on the airlines not charging fares higher than those in place on February 1, 2020.

“We hope that this temporary measure will also support airlines’ ability to again compete with each other on these routes, once the pandemic crisis has passed,” Mr Sims said.

He said airlines were facing significant challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the ACCC stood ready to assist with any co-ordination arrangements that were necessary.

The routes concerned included Sydney to Wagga Wagga, Dubbo, Albury and Armidale; Melbourne to Mildura; Adelaide to Port Lincoln, Whyalla and Kangaroo Island; Cairns-Townsville and Townsville-Mt Isa.

Co-ordinating flight schedules might mean each carrier operates one daily service on a route, and shares revenue; or one operator suspends flights on a route to allow another airline to maintain a viable service.

It was expected the authorisation would see Rex continue to fly some regional routes, after it announced on Monday it would suspend all services other than those subsidised by the government in Queensland.

Virgin Australia has also announced further reductions to domestic travel, including the suspensions of a number of regional routes following border closures by five states.

Qantas and Jetstar are expected to update the market on their services on Friday, in response to the latest travel restrictions.