Rex posts profits but warns aviation in crisis

Rex posts profits but warns aviation in crisis
By admin


Regional Express Holdings Ltd (Rex) announced a $10.7 million Profit Before Tax (PBT) for the financial year ended 30 June 2014.

Although down by 45% from the previous year, the result is slightly improved from the predicted 59.8% drop reported half year.

Rex executive chairman Lim Kim Hai said commented that the Australian economy continued to deteriorate in the period under review, resulting in 38,000 fewer Rex passengers while average fuel prices were high.

“On top of that, we had the burden of increased government taxes in the form of the carbon tax and a significant increase in the fuel levy to fund the Civil Aviation Safety Authority,” Lim added.

Lim earlier warned the Federal Government that aviation in Australia is in deep crisis, with Qantas and Virgin Australia losing a combined $4.4 billion at pre-tax level for year-end 2014.

Noting that regional aviation was harder hit, with two carriers collapse in the last nine months, Lim said "the environment is so toxic that incredible as it sounds, Rex is not only the most profitable passenger airline group for the third consecutive year, it has more accumulated PBT than Qantas or Virgin Australia over the last nine years."

The executive chairman is calling on the Abbott government to urgently start implementing the concrete initiatives promised in the Coalition’s Policy for Aviation issued in August 2013 prior to the federal election one year ago.

"This clearly demonstrates the prolonged and endemic crisis that is gripping Australian aviation, and the repeal of the carbon tax alone will not be sufficient to avoid the irreversible damage done to aviation, especially to regional aviation.”

Since September 2011, 16 carriers have collapsed , some of them with decades of history:

Horizon Airlines (2004), Great Western Airlines (2005), Airlines of South Australia (2005),

Emu Airways (2005), Aboriginal Air Services (2006), Sunshine Express (2006), Big Sky

Express (2006), Transair (2006), O’Connor Airlines (2007), Aero-Tropics Air Services

(2008), MacAir Airlines (2009), Regional Pacific Airlines (2010), Tasair (2012), Aeropelican (2013), Brindabella Airlines (2013), Vincent Aviation (2014). 

Latest News

  • Products

Embrace the journey: Traversing the world with the Shokz OpenRun

If you’ve been on the wrong side of a final call in the airport, or missed the stop on rail journey, it might be time to invest in a pair of Shokz OpenRun headphones. Originally marketed as headphones for fitness fanatics, runners or cyclists with a keen to steer clear of a prang with a car, […]

  • Tour Operators
  • Tourism

TTC: Deals are driving up demand for September trips

The latest market research from TTC Tour Brands shows interest in international leisure travel remains high for 2024, with 77 per cent of Australians over 18 still planning trips this year. Notably, 28 per cent of those travellers are eyeing September for their journeys. Europe continues to be the most popular destination, with 68 per […]

  • Aviation

Qantas ‘working urgently’ to fix app data leak

Qantas is looking into customer reports that passengers have this morning been able to access other passengers’ personal information on the airlines app. X user Lachlan posted that he was able log into different accounts every time he opened the app. My @Qantas app logs me in to a different person each time I open […]

  • Hotels

Revamped Wailoaloa Beach hotel opens as Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay Resort & Spa

Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay Resort & Spa is open and ready for bookings after the first phase of a multi-million-dollar transformation. Part of IHG Hotels & Resorts’ premium collection, the transformation has seen the completion of 106 guestrooms showcasing contemporary interiors reflective of the premium Crowne Plaza brand and is a first for the […]

  • Luxury
  • News

Kamalaya Koh Samui clinches clutch of wellness awards

Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary & Holistic Spa has so far clinched five prestigious awards in 2024, including being inducted into the ‘Hall of Fame’ at the World Spa & Wellness Awards in London. Founders of the Koh Samui sanctuary and spa John and Karina Stewart expressed their heartfelt gratitude for the awards. “We are profoundly honoured […]