Rex adds two more Boeing 737 jets as it eyes new routes
The regional airline says the new jets will unlock new routes from September.
By David Flynn, June 29 2021
Rex will swell its Boeing 737 fleet to eight jets in September with the arrival of another two aircraft, which in turn will add new routes to its nascent network.
The airline says those corridors could include "other capital cities, large regional centres and popular leisure destinations" on top of its current embrace of Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and the Gold Coast.
"The new routes will be announced shortly," Regional Express said in a media statement today.
Like Rex's first six Boeing 737 jets, these next two are expected to have been previously flown by Virgin Australia and returned to leasing firms as part of Virgin's downsizing in late 2020, after the collapsed airline was rescued and rebooted under the private ownership of US-based Bain Capital.
"We hope to lease another two aircraft to take our fleet size to 10 before the end of this year as foreshadowed in our plan announced last September," suggests Rex's Deputy Chairman John Sharp.
Rex entered the Sydney-Melbourne jet market on March 1 2021, in direct competition with incumbents Qantas and Virgin Australia, and the 'country airline' has continued nipping at their heels like a persistent cattle-dog while steadily expanding its reach and lowering pricing on each route it enters.
Each Rex Boeing 737 sports eight seats in business class and 168 in economy, including 30 extra legroom seats.
ET reviews: Rex Boeing 737 business class and Rex Boeing 737 economy
The configuration and seats mirror those of Virgin Australia, right down to Virgin's Economy X being rebranded as 'Rextra Legroom'.
ET review: Rex Boeing 737 'Rextra Legroom' economy
Rex is also expected to launch its own inflight WiFi service in the coming weeks, which will further level the field against Qantas and Virgin – once the latter decides what to do about WiFi.
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.