❓ Ms. Beard questions the Minister for Transport about the reliability of Rex Airlines' regional services and the impact of their revised profit guidance. The Minister assures that the government is working with Rex and other airlines to ensure accessible and affordable regional air travel, despite challenges like aircraft availability.
AnsweredQoN 440Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
REX AIRLINES — INTRASTATE AIR ROUTES
440. Ms M. BEARD to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the ongoing
unreliability of regional air services for communities such as Carnarvon,
Monkey Mia, Esperance and Albany, which is
impacting on connectivity and affecting vital sectors such as health service
delivery , business and personal travel and tourism operators, and to the
recent revised profit guidance of the operator Regional Express.
(1) Has the
minister contacted Regional Express to seek assurance that its revised profit
guidance will not further constrain its service delivery in regional WA?
(2) Is she
confident that Rex is fulfilling its contractual obligations under its deed of
agreement with the government?
440. Ms M. BEARD to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the ongoing
unreliability of regional air services for communities such as Carnarvon,
Monkey Mia, Esperance and Albany, which is
impacting on connectivity and affecting vital sectors such as health service
delivery , business and personal travel and tourism operators, and to the
recent revised profit guidance of the operator Regional Express.
(1) Has the
minister contacted Regional Express to seek assurance that its revised profit
guidance will not further constrain its service delivery in regional WA?
(2) Is she
confident that Rex is fulfilling its contractual obligations under its deed of
agreement with the government?
AnswerView source ↗
Thank you very much.
(1)–(2) This government is
a very big supporter of regional aviation. We are the government that —
Mr P.J. Rundle interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
member for Roe.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : It is
interesting that members of the Nationals WA are attacking Rex airlines.
In relation to regional aviation,
of course, we are the government that brought in the regional airfare zone cap,
which limits the cost of travel for regional Western Australians to either $199
or $299. We have been working with Aviair and now Nexus Airlines to create new
routes. In just over a few weeks, the inaugural flights connecting Geraldton to
the north and to Perth through Nexus will commence as a result of state
government support. We continue to work with all the airlines.
We understand that Rex had, in a sense,
a trading halt two days ago. My team has worked with it over the past 24 hours
to ascertain what impact it will have on regional air services. Our
understanding currently is that there will be no impact on the flights that Rex
delivers. We continue to work with Rex, as we continue to work with all
destinations and ports. For example, in Geraldton—where is the member
for Geraldton? She is not here. She has obviously caught a plane back! Every
port has had issues as airlines recover from the impacts of COVID. They have
all had issues in relation to reliability. States and major capital cities have
also had issues with reliability. We are constantly working with all the
airlines to try to make sure that we have a very reliable airline system, but
of course we have also addressed accessibility and affordability, and we will
continue to do that.
I find that the aviation market
continues to evolve and change, particularly the participants and the
challenges. For instance, more generally, globally there is an issue about
aircraft availability because of some of the challenges with production caused
by COVID. Everyone now wants to fly again, but there is a limited amount of
aircraft out there, and, of course, some
pilots chose to leave the industry during that time. We continue to work with
all of them . As I have said, we are doing everything to make sure that
aviation is accessible and affordable throughout regional Western Australia.
(1)–(2) This government is
a very big supporter of regional aviation. We are the government that —
Mr P.J. Rundle interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
member for Roe.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : It is
interesting that members of the Nationals WA are attacking Rex airlines.
In relation to regional aviation,
of course, we are the government that brought in the regional airfare zone cap,
which limits the cost of travel for regional Western Australians to either $199
or $299. We have been working with Aviair and now Nexus Airlines to create new
routes. In just over a few weeks, the inaugural flights connecting Geraldton to
the north and to Perth through Nexus will commence as a result of state
government support. We continue to work with all the airlines.
We understand that Rex had, in a sense,
a trading halt two days ago. My team has worked with it over the past 24 hours
to ascertain what impact it will have on regional air services. Our
understanding currently is that there will be no impact on the flights that Rex
delivers. We continue to work with Rex, as we continue to work with all
destinations and ports. For example, in Geraldton—where is the member
for Geraldton? She is not here. She has obviously caught a plane back! Every
port has had issues as airlines recover from the impacts of COVID. They have
all had issues in relation to reliability. States and major capital cities have
also had issues with reliability. We are constantly working with all the
airlines to try to make sure that we have a very reliable airline system, but
of course we have also addressed accessibility and affordability, and we will
continue to do that.
I find that the aviation market
continues to evolve and change, particularly the participants and the
challenges. For instance, more generally, globally there is an issue about
aircraft availability because of some of the challenges with production caused
by COVID. Everyone now wants to fly again, but there is a limited amount of
aircraft out there, and, of course, some
pilots chose to leave the industry during that time. We continue to work with
all of them . As I have said, we are doing everything to make sure that
aviation is accessible and affordable throughout regional Western Australia.
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