Rex to fly between Australian capital cities

[dajop]

Sadly I think even if covid wasn't a thing Rex would still struggle to get into the market.

Yes, if airlines were supermarkets ....

... No IGA.
Woolworths owns Aldi and between them would have 70% market share
Coles with most of the remaining market share ,plus a few small corner stores.

Would be impossible for anyone to break into the market.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

I think the whole thing appears pretty much dead. Check out some other Melbourne and even Gold Coast flights this morning. Pretty dire numbers

Sort of numbers OzJet was pulling

Don't think so just yet. Relax, take it easy. Get off expertflyer and don't worry about it . Take a flight

 

[henrus]

Don't think so just yet. Relax, take it easy. Get off expertflyer and don't worry about it . Take a flight

You're not a true AFFer if you're telling people to get off expertflyer

I'm about to book a flight down to Sydney and have been looking out of the Gold Coast, I really want to try Rex but both Jetstar and Virgin are cheaper on the days I've been searching. It's even less compelling given I'd get lounge access at both ends with both JQ or VA plus free economy X seating on VA.

 

[jakeseven7]

Yes, if airlines were supermarkets ....

... No IGA.
Woolworths owns Aldi and between them would have 70% market share
Coles with most of the remaining market share ,plus a few small corner stores.

Would be impossible for anyone to break into the market.

I think VA2 is more like the old Bi-Lo (owned by Coles) than Coles. And Coles has far more market share than VA2.

But apart from that kinda makes sense

 

[jakeseven7]

Does a Saab have the legs for SYD-MEL? Obviously scheduling and routing logistics are much harder than just grabbing an empty Saab for any given leg for your 10 pax. And those 10 people might be a bit peeved or startled with the swap from a jet to a prop, but might that stem some of the bleeding?

QF has been very nimble on my regular BNK-SYD route swapping between 737s and Dash 8s pretty regularly. The other week I had a flight downgraded from 737 to Q400 to a Dash8-200....

And that’s the benefit of having a flexible fleet and the ability now to move aircraft around dynamically. They load up capacity towards the start and end of weekends onto bigger jets then pull it back in quieter spots. Some days into Byron QF are flying 3-4x but I’ve seen as many as 8x during the holidays.

 

[dajop]

And that’s the benefit of having a flexible fleet and the ability now to move aircraft around dynamically. They load up capacity towards the start and end of weekends onto bigger jets then pull it back in quieter spots. Some days into Byron QF are flying 3-4x but I’ve seen as many as 8x during the holidays.

Add to that the ability to shift around capacity based on yields as well (bringing in low cost capacity through Jetstar when lower demand from higher yielding part of market).

 

[dk4]

...

Would be impossible for anyone to break into the market.

IMO it is fast approaching the time where Qantas should be forced to divest itself of Jetstar (as a viable, unencumbered, competitor airline). IMO there is only one real reason that Qantas created Jetstar, and that is to act as a significant barrier to entry for any new competition. I believe the concentrated market power welded by Qantas Group, is simply not in the national interest.

 

[dajop]

IMO it is fast approaching the time where Qantas should be forced to divest itself of Jetstar (as a viable, unencumbered, competitor airline). IMO there is only one real reason that Qantas created Jetstar, and that is to act as a significant barrier to entry for any new competition. I believe the concentrated market power welded by Qantas Group, is simply not in the national interest.

That's what the Chairman's Lounge if for. Never going to happen.

 

[HS-TQE]

Of course, there's always the plan of the Aus Government approaching the 'Singapore' and/or 'Temasek' mob with a 'separated Jetstar' if they want a '4th' go at the market.* Maybe 4th time lucky?

*Despite their dismal record at running a LCC in Australia (Tiger Airways pre-VA)

 

[Saab34]

Don't think so just yet. Relax, take it easy. Get off expertflyer and don't worry about it . Take a flight

Today seems to be the worst performing day since the get go. Even single digits to OOL.

May won’t be pretty.

 

[MooTime]

Today seems to be the worst performing day since the get go. Even single digits to OOL.

May won’t be pretty.

Really that low, single digits, omg.
No way they thought there numbers would be this dire.

Are they even advertising? I seen nothing.

I'd bet there's more ppl out there than not that don't even know Rex is an option. And with capacity apparently close to pre pandemic levels, would be a Rex worry on the numbers.

I'm sure a FF program would make some sort of difference, but still struggle IMO.

 

[dajop]

Today seems to be the worst performing day since the get go. Even single digits to OOL.

May won’t be pretty.

MEL-ADL was pretty full (but ADL-MEL not so much ... they really need to do something about the 6am departure it is not helping). OOL-MEL flights 60-70% full but not so good in other direction. So it’s not all single digits across the board.

 

[jase05]

IMO it is fast approaching the time where Qantas should be forced to divest itself of Jetstar (as a viable, unencumbered, competitor airline). IMO there is only one real reason that Qantas created Jetstar, and that is to act as a significant barrier to entry for any new competition. I believe the concentrated market power welded by Qantas Group, is simply not in the national interest.

JQ actually form a integral part of QF’s partnership with the APG and carry a substantial amount of freight for them. The A320’s are actually configured better than the QF 737 pax flights for ease and movement of freight

 

[Mattg]

Really that low, single digits, omg.
No way they thought there numbers would be this dire.

Are they even advertising? I seen nothing.

I don't think I've seen a single Rex advertisement either, other than this one on the departures board at CBR airport (not a 737 destination). No doubt, this ad space was given to them for free by CBR as part of the package when Rex started flights there last week.



I haven't seen a single Rex ad on TV, in a newspaper, or even online promoting the 737 services. Nothing at all. I do recall that they got some free airtime on the TV news for their route launches last month, but that's about it.

I'm not really sure what their strategy is but they don't seem to be prepared to spend any money to build brand awareness. Sorry Rex, but angry press releases and arrogant opinion pieces in the AFR are not a substitute for advertising.

Remember when Virgin Blue rebranded as Virgin Australia? There were TV ads, print ads, billboards, etc. People knew they were around. Same when Jetstar launched in Australia, actually. Rex has none of that.

 

[HS-TQE]

As per recent YouTube Trip Reports of REX J, it seems that REX has gotten around to replacing the red coloured VA's "Economy X" branding on the headrests of the extra legroom seats.

The replacement are just a plain grey headrest where the old EconomyX ('Rextra' legroom) rows reside.

 

[dajop]

I haven't seen a single Rex ad on TV, in a newspaper, or even online promoting the 737 services. Nothing at all. I do recall that they got some free airtime on the TV news for their route launches last month, but that's about it.

With MEL/SYD loads they could give away free return flights to a small number of people - would cost them a little bit of fuel and that is all and generate some publicity.

 

[Must...Fly!]

With MEL/SYD loads they could give away free return flights to a small number of people - would cost them a little bit of fuel and that is all and generate some publicity.

Seen the prices? They are just about giving it away as it is!

 

[jakeseven7]

Really that low, single digits, omg.
No way they thought there numbers would be this dire.

Are they even advertising? I seen nothing.

I'd bet there's more ppl out there than not that don't even know Rex is an option. And with capacity apparently close to pre pandemic levels, would be a Rex worry on the numbers.

I'm sure a FF program would make some sort of difference, but still struggle IMO.

Rex doesn’t even display on our global travel portal for booking, so even though it displays VA2 and some JQ flights we couldn’t book Rex mainline for work even if we wanted to. Weirdly their turbo prop services do though.
We use SAP concur which is a very primitive booking tool though, who knows what is going on!

 

[henrus]

in a newspaper,

Wrong there... Sharp's managed to put Rex in the AFR quite a few times This then gets picked up by other news sites who call it a feud between Rex and Qantas.

As they say, there's no such thing as bad publicity!

 

[henrus]

As per recent YouTube Trip Reports of REX J, it seems that REX has gotten around to replacing the red coloured VA's "Economy X" branding on the headrests of the extra legroom seats.

I think some aircraft were switched on day one and others are yet to be. In the first few weeks of reviews one of the aircraft has them replaced whilst others didn't.