Rex wins licence for Roma/Charleville flights

[AIRwin]

They mustn't have updated their website yet.

And they haven't loaded RMA to the booking engine even though flights start in just over a month...

 

[AIRwin]

Rex has now loaded RMA to their booking engine but it was still an invalid destination when I tried to make a booking a month out from the route launch...

 

[henrus]

Leaving this here for comparison when Rex eventually launches their sales/starts operating.

Brisbane to Roma Roma to Brisbane



Additionally award space (shown from Alaska's website due to good calendar layout)
BNE to RMA RMA to BNE


Obviously award seats will be no more but pricing will be interesting given the current flights to St George are around $220 and this is a bit shorter.

 

[jb747]

Obviously award seats will be no more but pricing will be interesting given the current flights to St George are around $220 and this is a bit shorter.

There’s 10 km difference in distance. About 1 minute of flight time. There are many other factors that will affect the cost, but in large part it will involve demand, and economy of scale (or it’s lack). Distance, especially this short of a difference, won’t have a part to play.

 

[Carrots]

Wonder if Qantas actually tendered?

 

[BRIS_VA_HAWK]

Wonder if Qantas actually tendered?

I would be mightily surprised if they did not.

 

[AIRwin]

Leaving this here for comparison when Rex eventually launches their sales/starts operating.

Still not available for booking...

 

[henrus]

Still not available for booking..

I find it comedic that the mayor out there was complaining about qantas' reliability and how they were left without services. Now from 1 Jan it's impossible to book any service.

 

[dajop]

I find it comedic that the mayor out there was complaining about qantas' reliability and how they were left without services. Now from 1 Jan it's impossible to book any service.

Flights seems to be bookable now. RMA-BNE $159 community fare. $193 for saver fare.

 

[BRIS_VA_HAWK]

Flights seems to be bookable now. RMA-BNE $159 community fare. $193 for saver fare.

The Community fares appear to be bookable online - do they require proof of being a Roma resident, or is it just a free for all?

 

[dajop]

The Community fares appear to be bookable online - do they require proof of being a Roma resident, or is it just a free for all?

Anyone can book. “Community” really is just branding for the scheme which purports to be in cooperation with councils (who operate the airports).

 

[henrus]

Community Fare

This is probably a better explanation. Basically community fares are a cheaper price for sales more than 30 days out or less than 24 hours before departure.

I'm rather surprised by how many BNE to RMA flights are loaded in. Some days have 6 flights.

 

[Mattg]

I'm rather surprised by how many BNE to RMA flights are loaded in. Some days have 6 flights.

Wow. 6 daily flights is a lot on the BNE-RMA route. And I'm sure Rex won't cancel any of these if the loads are poor.

The pricing to/from Charleville is a bit weird. $178 for a flight via Roma or $217 for... exactly the same flight via Roma.

 

[dajop]

The pricing to/from Charleville is a bit weird. $178 for a flight via Roma or $217 for... exactly the same flight via Roma.

I guess that's just a byproduct of operating two flight codes on the RMA-CTL sector on that specific flight, as at that particular flight goes BNE-RMA-CTL-BNE.... if Qantas had offered such I am sure that a few people would have happily paid the extra $39 for the extra status credits

 

[AIRwin]

I find it comedic that the mayor out there was complaining about qantas' reliability and how they were left without services. Now from 1 Jan it's impossible to book any service.

Rex has set the record straight that there has been no undue delay in publishing fares:

https://rex.com.au/BlobViewer/BlobViewer.aspx?attachtype=MR&filename=734E61536B497A4E6F796E2F4E4648756D574636744B674465313831622B366A365863314C75426C5866544F4C2B31556276496234584F36575655584F4B54675836634B5A426663614A4D3D

 

[henrus]

Rex has set the record straight that there has been no undue delay in publishing fares:

This is nuts, you've got one mayor who wants more services and then the next one who wants to charge a huge amount more to the new incoming carrier promising to deliver a new service.

Whilst Rex may have held off because of waiting for taxes I still think they could have acted faster. I've heard of carriers that launch routes and then update the taxes once all agreed upon and fares sold in between are updated (and weathered by the airline) or taxes grandfathered depending on who's involved.

 

[henrus]

Looks like they're itching to get started...



The flight left from the domestic terminal but wasn't on any departure boards so it seems like route proving or maybe a Roma photo shoot?

 

[AIRwin]

Wow. 6 daily flights is a lot on the BNE-RMA route. And I'm sure Rex won't cancel any of these if the loads are poor.

The pricing to/from Charleville is a bit weird. $178 for a flight via Roma or $217 for... exactly the same flight via Roma.

View attachment 266740

Looks like flights are selling?

 

[henrus]

Looks like flights are selling?

These flights always sold reasonably well so I suspect all you're seeing is a similar number of bookings to QLink.

QF Link was operating ~3x weekly flights with a total of 74 seats per flight meaning 222 seats per week. Meanwhile Rex will operate ~8x weekly flights with a total of 36 seats per flight meaning 288 seats per week. This is only an increase of 66 seats per week so one would expect them to be able to sell most flights.

(I'm ignoring the existing milk run W2 via WTB as this existed before the change in RMA/CLT operator)

Roma on the other hand is the real winner with up to 6 services per day 216 seats as opposed to QLinks 1-2 per day (normally 1 so just 74 seats). Long term it'll be interesting to see if this level of service can be maintained.

 

[AIRwin]

Last QF flight to CTL today...

Taking off past the runway at RMA:

It should be Farewell from Charleville instead of Welcome:


Even an insect came to bid farewell: