Rex Airline’s takeover of Roma-Brisbane route creates confusion weeks out from Christmas

The holiday period has become turbulent for those seeking a sneaky Christmas getaway, with big changes at Roma Airport creating confusion and uncertainty for eager travellers.

Patients in need of specialist treatment might be forced to drive hours for crucial operations amid airline confusion that has kept doctors and travellers grounded.

Only weeks out from its scheduled takeover of the vital Roma-Brisbane route, Rex Airlines has no flights listed for the new year.

The change has created uncertainty for patients like Roma resident Carol who rely on doctors being able to fly in from Brisbane to perform specialist operations.

After having to reschedule a fine-needle biopsy for January, she said Roma Hospital staff told her it was unknown when flights would resume to bring in a doctor to perform the procedure.

Now, she is told she might have to drive five hours to Toowoomba instead.

“Nobody knows the schedule, nobody knows anything,” she said.

“I’ve got to travel just under 400km to get it done, and probably at my own expense.”

Carol, who asked to be referred to by just her first name, said an earlier scan picked up abnormalities and needed to be urgently looked at.

But with recent storms having wreaked havoc on southwest Queensland, she didn’t know if she’d even be able to make the drive to Toowoomba when the time came.

“It would be nice to know what’s going on and not having to wait until – I don’t know when,” she said.

“I’m sure there’s a lot of people affected by the confusion, too.

“People travel back and forth from Brisbane all the time, and they really want to have the schedule out now so they can start booking.”

Flights ferrying passengers to and from the state capital will continue to be operated by QantasLink until the end of the year.

After that, those flights will be run by Rex Airlines after a deal was struck with the State Government in November.

Under that agreement, the Australian-run airline will take over government-subsidised routes connecting rural centres such as Toowoomba and Charleville with the state capital.

Qantas will cease its operation of rural Queensland routes on December 31. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

According to the Rex Airlines website, bookings can be made for return flights from Charleville to Brisbane from January 1.

Currently, there are none scheduled for Roma, with travellers at this point being told flights were “unavailable” throughout January and into the New Year.

Roma resident Will Fellows said he had flights booked to travel to the United States with Qantas in January but was told by the airline that the Roma-Brisbane leg of his journey couldn’t be transferred to Rex Airlines because of uncertainty around the schedule.

“I’m pretty disappointed. It’s ridiculous that its nearly three weeks from when Rex were told that they had the contracts and they still can’t get a schedule up,” he said.

Mr Fellows travels regularly for his work as a financial professional and said he also held practical concerns about the Rex Airlines fleet, including how it would handle luggage and the reduced size of the planes.

“The aircraft are less than half the size of the Qantas aircraft,” he said.

The reality is Roma has so many people coming through it.

“You’ve also got a baggage limit that’s 15 kgs, whereas it used to be 23 kgs with Qantas and you’ve got to fit everything for you and the kid.

“Rex won’t even guarantee the luggage travels on the same plane as you.

“It’s pretty poor form that the government can choose an airline like Rex to come in and support what is a pretty high volume, regional route, and not have really streamlined plans in place to be able to migrate across to Rex.”

Maranoa Travel Centre owner Peter Flynn said he expected Rex to begin flying out of Roma Airport on New Year’s Day, but could not comment on when the dates and times of those flights would be available to passengers.

“I expect it to be released soon,” he said.

Long distance bus routes servicing Roma will also change when Bus Queensland ceases operation on December 10.

Greyhounds Australia will begin operating the Brisbane-Charleville route instead with services starting in time for the Christmas period, as well as the full reopening of Queensland’s borders next week.

Buses running from Toowoomba to St George on the Moonie and Gore Highways will also change hands with Murrays Coaches taking over the reins.

The Western Star made multiple attempts to reach Rex Airlines for further information but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Originally published as Rex Airline’s takeover of Roma-Brisbane route creates confusion weeks out from Christmas