Regional Express (Rex) Managing Director Geoff Breust has responded to comments by Dr Watt about fares, seating availability and arrival conditions on its Port Lincoln – Adelaide services.
“I am very disappointed and very concerned at the inaccuracy of the comments made in the Port Lincoln Times. As there were serious accusations levelled at Rex, we believe that everyone on the Eyre Peninsula and in Adelaide should know the facts and the actual statistics to determine the credibility of the comments made.
“Since QantasLink withdrew its services at the end of June, Rex has provided 17,962 seats and 14,479 were sold. That means there were 3,483 unoccupied seats. Of the passengers who flew, 53 percent paid the discount fare of $99. The overall average fare, fully inclusive of all taxes and the $27 fuel levy, was just $119.
“For the remainder of August we have provided 10,248 seats with 5,416 seats still available. Around half of these are at the cheapest fare of $99.
“With our current seven return services weekdays and Sundays and six returns on Saturdays, Port Lincoln residents have never in their history had so much flexibility in their air travel and at fares 20 percent below the levels when Rex first started four years ago, even with the $27.00 per sector fuel levy included. Back then when Airlines of South Australia (ASA) operated there were really only four time slots for travel as both airlines operated similar schedules.
“Immediately following the announcement of the QantasLink withdrawal, Rex invested in an additional aircraft and crew. Only six weeks later we are bringing our eighth Saab into South Australia. From 14 August Rex will increase services to eight return for Port Lincoln each Monday and to nine return services on Fridays. This brings the total seats offered to 180,000 per annum.
“Rex therefore takes great exception to comments which seem to insinuate that Rex is profiteering from its sole operator position. Rex and Kendell before it have laboured hard for Port Lincoln residents to enjoy an air service which is simply unsurpassed anywhere else in Australia for a regional city of some 14,500 people in terms of frequency, number of seats and pricing.
“We invite Dr Watt to name another carrier, in a competitive situation or otherwise, which has an average fare of $123 including the fuel levy. Rex has been the regional airline in Australia that has brought to regional communities affordable fares, increased capacity and frequency of services and substantial growth in people travelling. Our approach in Port Lincoln is the same as it is across our whole network whether we have a competitor on a route or not.
On the matter of the arrival arrangements at Adelaide Airport, Mr Breust said the original cause of all the problems was the design of the new terminal and the facilities provided for regional travellers.
“Without massive changes to the building no one interim solution was going to be perfectly satisfactory.
“The taxi issue, while totally outside Rex’s control is being addressed by the Taxi Council and Adelaide Airport Limited (AAL) which will see a special pick-up point at the arrival area for our passengers. Rex has offered to pre-book taxis for all our passengers from Port Lincoln for this service at no charge. This will be introduced as soon as the taxis and AAL put their arrangements in place.
On the transportation of disabled or infirm passengers to the terminal, Mr Breust said that Rex had been prohibited from transferring disabled or medical treatment passengers from the aircraft to the baggage arrival area in the new terminal by the Australian Customs Service and security authorities.
“Rex continues to provide buggy or bus transfers to our arrivals area. With the taxi and special pick-up points at the Rex arrivals area, this problem has been overcome.
“On the baggage arrangements, the delivery of bags to the Rex arrivals area generally occurs very quickly. The bus service delivers passengers to the arrivals area normally within three minutes of the aircraft arriving. The Adelaide destination bags generally beat the bus and passengers to that point. Rex monitors the operation of these arrangements constantly. On the occasion of Dr Watt’s flight, another passenger’s bag leaked fluid from it which delayed the delivery of the bags by some twelve minutes.
Mr Breust also confirmed that Rex had no record of contact from the Port Lincoln Times about the comments made in the article in Thursday’s paper.
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