Council looks to mend Rex rift

KING ISLAND’S new Mayor says his first order of business is to mend the relationship between the council and Rex Airlines and get the flights which have been cut reinstated.

David Munday, who has been on the King Island Council for four years, said he had campaigned on the issue and the ballot result showed many locals supported that stand.

“I was in a minority that thought what the council was doing in regard to airport fees and charges was wrong,” Cr Munday said this week.

“We need to meet face-toface with the airline and re- build a professional relationship.”

He also hopes to rebuild the council’s relationship with the local newspaper.

Rex cut two flights to the Bass Strait island earlier this year as its public tiff with the council over new airport fees and charges peaked.

The council then agreed to place the increases on hold until April 1 while it brokered a longer-term deal with the airline. The flights were reinstated. The council then took legal action against the King Island Courier over its coverage of the airline stand-off.

On October 25 the airline announced it would again reduce services between King Island and Melbourne.

“I view this law suit against a newspaper for saying exactly the same things that Rex has said in public as nothing but a disguised attempt to sully Rex’s reputation,” executive chair- man Lim Kim Hai has said. “I am sick and tired of the chicaneries of the King Island Council. This very marginal route has consumed too much management effort and I have directed my staff to no longer entertain any more discussions with KIC or with any intermediaries.”

Cr Munday said with golf tourism taking off, it was important there were enough flights to King Island from Melbourne to stop the island being seen as a “too hard” destination. “We need to start a dialogue with Rex,” he said.

The airline declined to comment on whether a new mayor could break the stalemate.