The future of another national airline has been thrown into doubt after its trading on the Australian Stock Exchange was suspended.
There were growing concerns on Tuesday over the fate of regional airline Rex, with around 2,000 jobs “thrown into limbo”, the Transport Workers Union said.
Rex shares were halted on the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday following recent boardroom turmoil and multi-million-dollar losses.
An announcement is expected before the opening of trading on Wednesday.
“In the meantime, we do not feel it is appropriate to comment further,” a Rex spokesman said.
The suspension of operations also came amid reports that Rex had called in consultancy firm Deloitte to review the airline’s accounting books. Deloitte referred media queries to Rex.
Transport Minister Catherine King said the government was in contact with the airline and monitoring the situation “hour by hour”.
“Rex is trusted by Australians in the region,” he told Channel Seven’s Sunrise programme on Tuesday.
There were growing concerns on Tuesday over the fate of regional airline Rex (plane pictured), with an estimated 2,000 jobs “thrown into limbo”.
“It’s an incredibly important airline. In many cases, it’s the only one serving a number of small towns in the interior of the country and people rely heavily on it.”
“We are taking this very seriously and are closely monitoring what is happening, following the situation hour by hour.”
Rex has built a solid reputation since its inception in 2002 and has become known for its reliability.
The Bureau of Transportation and Infrastructure Economic Research found in April that the airline canceled just one percent of its flights, outpacing all of its competitors.
The national carrier was internationally recognised at the World Airlines Awards in early July when it was awarded the title of Best Regional Airline in Australia/Pacific.
Ms King noted that unlike Bonza, which recently collapsed, Rex owns its planes rather than leasing them.
“It is Rex’s responsibility to inform its customers that its services are operational today,” he said.
‘There has been some instability on the board of directors lately… but I want to assure people that Rex is a major airline… and we are watching the situation closely.’
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Rex has struggled with its profitability as the wider sector struggled in difficult conditions (pictured, Melbourne Airport)
In early July, creditors voted to liquidate budget airline Bonza. Pictured are passengers at Sydney Airport
A range of regional communities across the country rely on the airline, which emerged 22 years ago following the collapse of Ansett.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Rex has struggled with its profitability as the wider sector struggled under difficult conditions.
In February, Rex reported a net loss of $3.2 million for the first half of the 2023/24 financial year due to rising costs, especially for fuel.
However, this represented an improvement on the $16.5 million loss reported in the previous corresponding period.
In June, Rex announced that long-serving CEO Lim Kim Hai would step down, although he will remain on the board as a non-executive director.
In July, Mr Lim, a major shareholder, asked a general meeting of shareholders to remove several directors, including non-executive chairman John Sharp.