Rex plots loyalty scheme
REGIONAL Express has confirmed plans to launch a new frequent flyer program in the coming months, with the move hoped to build on the carrier’s strong performance in Jul which it says was driven by its new travel agency agreements (TD 24 Jun).
The deals included pacts with Helloworld, Webjet, Consolidated Travel, Corporate Travel Management and Flight Centre, all of which kicked off on 01 Jul.
Rex Executive Chairman, Lim Kim Hai, this morning confirmed plans to further boost the Rex Boeing 737 fleet (TD breaking news), noting that revenue on jet routes had doubled in Jul with a strong 86% load factor thanks to the travel agency relationships.
“I have every expectation that our numbers will continue to grow sharply over the next few months, since Jul has seen only 30% of the committed monthly passenger contributions from these tie-ups,” he said.
The Rex turboprop network also performed strongly, with revenue and passenger numbers comparable to pre-pandemic levels but with a significant uplift in revenue and load factors.
Lim said the regional success “also validates our decision to stand our ground against Qantas, which flooded the market on marginal regional routes in an attempt to destabilise us”.
“Not only did their plan not succeed, but we are now having record passengers and revenues on our regional network by concentrating on the larger regional routes in direct competition with them,” he said.
Lim said Rex intended to expand regional operations to “other regional cities that are currently monopolised by QantasLink”, anticipating the new Melbourne-Devonport route launching this month which has been operated solely by QF for 17 years.
The Rex Chairman said the carrier had “made a vow to repay the people of Australia for keeping it afloat with the government support we received through COVID”.
“We hope that we have started to repay this faith in some small ways by providing a service the travelling public can count on,” he added, noting Rex’s on-time performance which is in “stark contrast to the total chaos and dysfunctionality of the other carriers”.