I49 Air and Space Transport

Major airlines cashing in on Rexit

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Original article by Joseph Lam
The Australian – Page: 15 : 13-Nov-24

Data from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission shows that Qantas and Virgin have benefited from the collapse of Rex Airlines. The major carriers’ revenue per passenger on capital city routes has risen to $98.40, compared with $86.80 in July when Rex went into voluntary administration and ceased servicing these routes. The ACCC has warned that market concentration means that further increases in airfares are likely, while it may take some time for a serious third competitor to enter the domestic aviation market. Meanwhile, the federal government will provide Rex with $80m of taxpayers’ money to keep servicing its regional routes.

CORPORATES
REX AIRLINES PTY LTD, REGIONAL EXPRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX REX, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Qantas, ACCC agree on $120m penalty for ghost flights

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 15 & 19 : 9-Oct-24

The Federal Court has approved a settlement between Qantas and the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission regarding the former’s "ghost flight" scandal. Qantas has agreed to pay a $100m fine and pay affected customers a total of $20m in compensation for selling tickets for flights that had already been cancelled during the pandemic. The ACCC was represented by Chris Caleo KC, who argued that complying with consumer law must be a priority for Qantas, given that it is the nation’s largest airline and carries millions of passengers each year.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Virgin boss says Qatar partnership will boost competition

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Original article by Amelia McGuire
The Age – Page: Online : 2-Oct-24

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka has defended the proposed deal to sell a 25 per cent stake in the carrier to Qatar Airways. As part of the deal with Qatar, Virgin aims to commence ‘wet lease’ services to Doha from mid-2025 using the Qatari airline’s fleet of aircraft. Hrdlicka adds that it would take six years for Virgin to gain access to enough planes to begin its own long-haul international flights. The Transport Workers Union has expressed concern about the implications of the wet lease deal for Virgin employees, given that its international flights will use Qatar Airways pilots and cabin crew.

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, QATAR AIRWAYS, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION

Qatar to take 25 per cent stake in Virgin Australia

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: Online : 1-Oct-24

Qatar Airways will become a cornerstone investor in Virgin Australia following lengthy negotiations with Bain Capital. The Qatari carrier has agreed to acquire a 25 per cent stake in Virgin, although the latter’s CEO Jayne Hrdlicka concedes that regulatory approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board and the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission cannot be taken for granted. The two airlines have been codesharing partners since 2022. Bain Capital is still expected to pursue an IPO for Virgin before the end of 2024 or in the new year.

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, QATAR AIRWAYS, BAIN CAPITAL LLC, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Qantas, Virgin defend higher fares in the wake of Rex’s exit from domestic trunk routes

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: Online : 18-Sep-24

Australia’s two major airlines have downplayed data which suggests that economy airfares have risen by more than 12 per cent since July. This coincided with the collapse of Rex Airlines and its withdrawal from capital city routes. Qantas contends that the Bureau of Infrastructure & Transport Research Economics’ data does not represent the average fares that customers are paying for domestic flights. Virgin Australia in turn argues that factors such as football finals and school holidays traditionally result in price variance in September compared with July.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, REX AIRLINES PTY LTD, REGIONAL EXPRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX REX, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS. BUREAU OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT RESEARCH ECONOMICS

Administrators for Rex to axe another 73 jobs at troubled regional airline

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Original article by Kate Ainsworth
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 20-Aug-24

Some 594 employees of Rex Airlines have been retrenched since EY was appointed as the failed carrier’s administrator in late July. EY has advised 261 of Rex’s remaining employees via email that 73 of them will be sacked because they are surplus to the requirements of an airline that is now solely focused on servicing regional areas; all of the staff to be retrenched had been a part of Rex’s ill-fated expansion into capital city markets. Rex will have about 1,200 employees following the latest job cuts, which is similar to its staff levels prior to its expansion and the COVID-19 pandemic.

CORPORATES
REX AIRLINES PTY LTD, REGIONAL EXPRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX REX, ERNST AND YOUNG

Rex’s expansion push could leave regional travellers paying the price

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Original article by Sezen Bakan
The New Daily – Page: Online : 31-Jul-24

Rex Airlines has advised that EY has been appointed as voluntary administrators of the Regional Express listed entity and a number of subsidiaries. Rex also announced that its fleet of Boeing 737s have been grounded and all flights on capital city routes have been cancelled; however, flights to regional destinations will continue to be serviced by its fleet of Saab 340s. Professor Pierre Benckendorff from the University of Queensland says airfares on capital city routes are unlikely to be affected if Rex is liquidated; he adds that airfares on regional routes could rise sharply due to lack of competition, and some routes may be discontinued.

CORPORATES
REX AIRLINES PTY LTD, REGIONAL EXPRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX REX, ERNST AND YOUNG, UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

Qantas: new players can’t survive

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 19 : 16-Jul-24

Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson has expressed her sadness at the collapse of Bonza but she said it showed Australia cannot support more domestic airlines, with Hudson speaking on Monday in Perth at the launch of Qantas’s new Perth-Paris route. With the federal government soon to release its white paper on aviation, Hudson says that government regulation of the sector should focus on ensuring it remains sustainable. She said the Australian economy relies on domestic aviation, and that a weak domestic aviation market is not in anyone’s interest.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, BONZA AVIATION PTY LTD

Bonza joins the scrapheap of airline failures

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 15 : 3-Jul-24

Creditors of failed budget airline Bonza have voted 35-6 in favour of liquidating the carrier. Administrator Hall Chadwick has advised that they had received no offers for Bonza or its assets, despite an extensive sales campaign. The formal vote to liquidate the company will allow Bonza’s employees to access the federal government’s fair entitlements guarantee scheme. Unions note that the decision to liquidate will provide Bonza’s employees with much-needed certainty, given that they have not been paid since March.

CORPORATES
BONZA AVIATION PTY LTD, HALL CHADWICK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Workers sacked after no offers made for Bonza

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 17 : 12-Jun-24

Bonza’s administrator Hall Chadwick has advised that the failed airline’s entire workforce of 323 has been retrenched, while all future flights have been cancelled in order to give customers "certainty". Hall Chadwick partner Kathleen Vouris has revealed that the firm had received no offers for Bonza by the deadline of 7 June, although she said that a deal to sell the airline remains a possibility. Vouris also indicated that Bonza employees will not be able to access the federal government’s fair entitlements guarantee scheme until Hall Chadwick decides whether to liquidate the airline.

CORPORATES
BONZA AVIATION PTY LTD, HALL CHADWICK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD