Rex to fly between Australian capital cities

[henrus]

No way in the world have they got their regional Saab 340 network back to what it was pre-Covid

Let's compare May 2022 and May 2019 (using BITRE OTP data).

In May 2019 Rex operated 6548 sectors whilst in May 2022 they operated 6335 sectors.

Obviously in May 2019 they didn't have the jet operations which in May 2022 made up 974 sectors meaning 5361 sectors were regional.

This means their May 2022 regional operations were 81.8% of their May 2019 operations... I guess that's "about" 90%

If they did factor in their jet operations it'd be 96.7%.

In terms of Rex load factor well who knows.

 

[Fortunatecrow]

ASX announcement today:

"On the domestic front, July’s pre-audited base passenger revenue was at $13.6m, almost double that of the monthly average of the prior three months at $6.87m. Load Factor was at 86% across the entire domestic network"

 

[Mattg]

ASX announcement today:

"On the domestic front, July’s pre-audited base passenger revenue was at $13.6m, almost double that of the monthly average of the prior three months at $6.87m. Load Factor was at 86% across the entire domestic network"

That's a good result for Rex.

 

[HS-TQE]

REX trying to re-emphasis their intended launch of their 'Rex Flyer' FF program regurgitated on the usual news sites. No 'new news' on how it may work, or whether former major VA partners EY and DL will join REX's program as speculated.

 

[henrus]

No 'new news' on how it may work, or whether former major VA partners EY and DL will join REX's program as speculated.

I hadn't heard about EY and ZL before but I thought DL and ZL was a given due to the interline agreement due to kick off shortly.

Right now DL is still selling VA connections within Australia but I was under the impression that DL could switch to ZL in Q3?



Rex isn't always on time with the announcements but given Q3 means either this month or next we could see some action soon?

 

[HS-TQE]

Looks like REX may be acquiring an ex-Samoa Airways 738 as their 7th aircraft, with an 8th and 9th (unsure where the last 2 is coming from) before the end of this year. The ex-Samoa 738 J cabin is configured with 12 seats, so I wonder if REX may fly that aircraft in that config (having to sell/flog off 4 more J seats).

 

[henrus]

Looks like REX may be acquiring an ex-Samoa Airways 738 as their 7th aircraft, with an 8th and 9th (unsure where the last 2 is coming from) before the end of this year. The ex-Samoa 738 J cabin is configured with 12 seats, so I wonder if REX may fly that aircraft in that config (having to sell/flog off 4 more J seats).

Yep I can see that is now showing on planespotters.net, this will make it the youngest 737 in the Rex fleet (all others range from 12.2 to 19 years old) with the new one being just 7.7 years old.

It's also quite amusing because whilst it's an ex-Samoa Airways aircraft it never actually flew any revenue flights for Samoa Airways (or even went to Samoa) but has been in Australia for over a year.

Samoa Airways' first 737 was leased from Neos but well before covid back in April 2019 Neos wanted it back. At the time they'd been using the Neos to fill in the 737 Max order they had but obviously the 737 Max was grounded so they temporarily leased a Malindo Air 737 but then covid struck in early 2020 and that wasn't needed anymore. Samoa airways canceled their 737 Max order and instead leased this jet on an 8 year contract but covid border closures prevented them from ever using it and the airline declared bankrupt.

It was painted mid last year in Samoa airways livery and delivered to Brisbane where it basically sat in Brisbane from August to May (this can't have been good for the plane), In late May it flew MEL-DRW-KUL-AUH-CAI-MPL where it sat in France for a while and now it's coming back to Australia to operate for Rex.

Assuming it hasn't been changed much I'd expect the new Rex 737 would have a similar cabin to Jet Airways given they were the last to operate this jet excluding the brief 8 month period for Vistara.

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

It was painted mid last year in Samoa airways livery and delivered to Brisbane where it basically sat in Brisbane from August to May (this can't have been good for the plane)

I remember seeing it in January on a weekend visit to Brissie next to the new livery of Nauru Airlines and wondering what it was doing / how long it had been there.

I definitely wouldn't have guessed 9 months.

 

[Melburnian1]

On Thursday 4 August 2022, ZL9 (0700 hours early morning SYd down to MEL) looks to be empty in J with just 27 passengers displaying as booked in Y.

 

[Mattg]

On Thursday 4 July 2022, ZL9 (0700 hours early morning SYd down to MEL) looks to be empty in J with just 27 passengers displaying as booked in Y.

That flight hasn't departed yet so you can't read too much into the seat map at this point.

I'm sure it will depart with 8 pax in J, and none of them will have paid for it

 

[Harrison_133]

I'm sure it will depart with 8 pax in J, and none of them will have paid for it

That’s certainly what happened (again) on my OOL-SYD-MEL flights with them last week.

SYD-MEL leg, they went around asking people sitting near the desk if they were flying Rex, but the many people they asked were all on the Virgin flight leaving from the opposite gate. They quickly gave up and picked 8 random seats off the computer, so those people had a nice surprise when their Y boarding pass wouldn’t scan. So if you want to try your luck for an upgrade, it wouldn’t hurt to hang around the gate a bit before boarding starts.

And as a data point, OOL-SYD had just over 100 pax & SYD-MEL 80 odd.

 

[Mattg]

That’s certainly what happened (again) on my OOL-SYD-MEL flights with them last week.

SYD-MEL leg, they went around asking people sitting near the desk if they were flying Rex, but the many people they asked were all on the Virgin flight leaving from the opposite gate. They quickly gave up and picked 8 random seats off the computer, so those people had a nice surprise when their Y boarding pass wouldn’t scan. So if you want to try your luck for an upgrade, it wouldn’t hurt to hang around the gate a bit before boarding starts.

And as a data point, OOL-SYD had just over 100 pax & SYD-MEL 80 odd.

I still don't understand why they're actively going out of their way to upgrade random people for free?

Surely a better (more profitable) system would be to sell upgrades or introduce Plusgrade-style bidding?

 

[Fortunatecrow]

I still don't understand why they're actively going out of their way to upgrade random people for free?

Surely a better (more profitable) system would be to sell upgrades or introduce Plusgrade-style bidding?

Yes but these are the guys that can't deliver a FF scheme; the IT required is probably beyond them!

Post automatically merged: Aug 3, 2022

So if you want to try your luck for an upgrade, it wouldn’t hurt to hang around the gate a bit before boarding starts.

Yep, near the desk in line of sight!

 

[Saab34]

Only about 30 and 50 it seems on the 5pm MEL-SYD-MEL.

Seems like not much has improved. So basically they do well in the holiday periods, but terrible outside.

 

[aikman]

I still don't understand why they're actively going out of their way to upgrade random people for free?

If I was one of those people I'd probably proactively choose to fly with Rex again and tell all my friends about it, in person and on social media.

Under promise and over deliver.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Only about 30 and 50 it seems on the 5pm MEL-SYD-MEL.

Seems like not much has improved. So basically they do well in the holiday periods, but terrible outside.

i was on this flight! Indeed around 30-40 people… each row had two people in in. Business was full. Random people upgraded… one person managed to board and they paged her and brought her up to business!

Sitting in row 3 by myself I would much prefer that to a packed business class.

I suspect they fully cater the flights, but agree it would have been good if they had offered paid upgrades.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Anyways… I have to say I was really impressed by Rex. I guess part of it is the low loads, but they were really good! Check-in in MEL was a breeze, staff standing by who proactively came to help with the kiosks and took the bag label to attach it for you. Explained how bag drop worked. Security at T4 was a empty, lots of space to sit once inside. Some comfy couches overlooking the airfield.

Boarding… priority was enforced. We left early! Friendly staff, all smiles. Came across as professional.

Snack - delicious soy and corn chips - and choice of tea or coffee. Wine and soft drinks available for purchase, these are cashless… although the website says ‘cash only’.

Landed 25 mins early. luggage out in 5 minutes.

Unbeatable fares.

No FF program, but saving $100+ over Qantas, per flight! And no packed QF lounges!

 

[Melburnian1]

A quick look at the website for a Tuesday flight 2.5 weeks away shows a typical economy fare of A$89 single (one way) that I assume is the cheapest on offer for ZL MEL to SYD. Today, the evening 2000 hours northbound has an A$89 Y fare available, but some other future days are as much as A$269.01 or (tomorrow) A$159.01. The extra cent is odd.

J seems stuck at A$299, again far cheaper than QFd.

 

[Melburnian1]

I still don't understand why they're actively going out of their way to upgrade random people for free?

Surely a better (more profitable) system would be to sell upgrades or introduce Plusgrade-style bidding?

Maybe they've worked out their passenger base is largely those who'd (on the shorter one sector routes) normally drive, or a few who'd travel by train. Price sensitive.

But yes, upgrading by competitive bids might bring in $50 to $150 extra per seat in J.

Post automatically merged: Aug 4, 2022

That's a good result for Rex.

Rex has yet to report its financial results for 2021-22, so let's see how it performed. I can't see how it could have delivered a net profit after tax.

 

[aikman]

$50 upgrades to J would be great content for travel blogs and a bargain for frequent travellers but I don't think it's a good longer term strategy for the business. Whoever is buying full price J seats now will just switch to the upgrade process to save money. Overall revenue will fall.