Regional Express (Rex) South Australia’s largest regional airline has increased further its Adelaide – Port Lincoln services to 88 flights per week.
Commencing Monday 22 May, Rex will add another return Saab 340 service between Adelaide and Port Lincoln Monday to Thursday bringing the service to seven return flights each week day. An additional return flight has been added on Saturdays bringing that to four returns. Five return flights are operated on Sundays.
“The additional flights have been added in response to strong demand for our services. Port Lincoln continues to be an expanding city and region and Rex is pleased to play its part in adding to the convenience and affordability of our air services,” Geoff Breust, Rex’s Managing Director said.
“We have also revised our timings slightly to improve the convenience of peak time services especially in the afternoon and evening. The new schedule provides just under 3,000 seats per week between Adelaide and Port Lincoln, an increase of 13
percent.”
“We are continually reviewing our network as we respond to passenger growth and market requirements. Our current planning includes five additional aircraft this year for expansion on existing and new routes.
“This latest review, resulting in the increased services on Adelaide – Port Lincoln, has been made possible by recent additions to our fleet of saab aircraft. We have been very successfully replacing 19 seat Metro aircraft with 34 seat Saab aircraft across our South Australian network. Whyalla, Mount Gambier, Olympic Dam and Kingscote effectively receive dedicated Saab services while Ceduna and Broken Hill now receive a mix of Saab and Metros,” Mr Breust said.
Rex currently has six Saab and two Metro aircraft based in Adelaide from three Saab and four Metro aircraft less than two years ago. Overall the Rex fleet has grown to 26 Saab 340s and three Metro 23s. The airline operates services on 33 regional routes from Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
“Minor timing changes have been made to our schedule across the rest of our network in South Australia to more readily provide operational flexibility. It also gives us the ability to provide additional Saab services between Adelaide and Kangaroo Island to meet periods of high demand and more effectively cater for
groups of visitors,” Mr Breust said.
Rex has also been pressing Adelaide Airport to improve facilities for regional travellers in the new terminal building. Since starting operations at the new terminal mid December, Rex and Adelaide Airport have been inundated with complaints about the distances to walk, the “cattle race” style covered walkways which overheat and flood and the overly intrusive security screening for passengers arriving into Adelaide from regional ports.
“Rex and Adelaide Airport have come to a basic agreement to provide a bus service for arriving passengers directly from their aircraft to a new arrival area in the old international terminal building. The hold up at the moment concerns security screening arrangements but we are hopeful a practical arrangement can be agreed with the Federal Department of Transport and Regional Services in the coming days. The bussing service can commence in around two weeks from then thereby providing a much more convenient service for regional travellers,” Mr Breust said.
For more information, contact: 0402 438 361 – Sara–Jane Uden
|