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In short:
Rex Airlines is in an ASX trading halt "pending a material announcement", a spokesperson says.
The ABC has confirmed Rex's website is not taking bookings for flights between metropolitan areas on Tuesday.
What's next?
The trading halt will remain in place until Wednesday or until the airline makes a market announcement.
Regional Australian airline Rex has suspended trading on the Australian stock market pending an upcoming announcement.
The ASX-listed company halted trade on Monday ahead of making an announcement dealing with a media report published over the weekend.
The pause in trading is expected to remain in place until tomorrow or until Rex releases a statement to the market.
The trading halt comes after budget airline Bonza, which also flew to regional locations, fell into administration in April.
The ABC has confirmed Rex's website was no longer taking bookings for flights between metropolitan areas on Tuesday.
Flights on the carrier's domestic trunk route between nine capital cities including Hobart, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne were listed as unavailable.
In a comment to the ABC, a spokesperson from Rex Airlines said the company was in an ASX trading halt "pending making a material announcement".
"In the meantime it isn't appropriate for us to make any further comments," the spokesperson said.
When asked specifically about whether the airline had scrapped services across its domestic trunk routes between major capital cities, a Rex spokesperson said "more detail will be forthcoming soon but at this stage unfortunately, we cannot comment further".
Transport Workers Union boss Michael Kaine said he had written to Rex as about 2,000 jobs were at risk.
"This is a sign that the aviation industry is broken, it's actually in crisis," he said.
"We're looking forward to hearing back from Rex as a matter of urgency, to try and get some more clarity on this situation."
Government to 'work with' Rex
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday it was "an important airline" and he was "very hopeful that they'll see their way through".
"We have sought information from the airline through [Minister for Transport] Catherine King, who came to see me about this today … we will continue to monitor what happens there," he said.
"There are a range of communities in New South Wales, in Queensland, in South Australia and right around the country that rely upon Rex … so it's important," he said.
He said the airline had come through COVID and received substantial government support, "and we will remain vigilant when it comes to this airline and continue to work with them".
"We want to see not just those jobs maintained, but we also want to see those communities continue to have access to aviation that's so important for their economy and for their way of life," he said.
Mr Albanese has spoken further with the Transport Minister Catherine King today.
Ms King said the government was putting "contingencies in place" after the trading halt.
Ms King said it was too early to discuss any assistance for Rex but maintained the government knew how valuable the airline was to many people.
"We are absolutely aware of how important Rex is to regional connectivity," she said.
"It's obviously also introduced some competition into some of the bigger routes as well."
Concerns for remote communities
In outback Queensland, State Member for Traeger Robbie Katter said about a dozen routes in his regional electorate would no longer exist if Rex were to fold.
The Queensland government has partnered with Rex to subsidise many remote routes, including from Mount Isa to Mornington Island.
"These communities don't have access to any other operator … and my concern is that if Rex goes there won't be a provider ready to jump straight in," Mr Katter said.
In South Australia's Eyre Peninsula region, Streaky Bay Mayor Travis Barber said he was "shocked" by the situation.
"This is pretty scary news for the peninsula," he said.
Cr Barber said his community, seven hours west of Adelaide, relied heavily on the airline to fly in locum doctors, nurses and other medical professionals.
"If we can't get doctors into Ceduna, then we don't have doctors — so it's a very very important cog in the way we work [as a community]," he said.
Mornington Island is one of the most remote routes serviced by Rex in the country, relying on just seven flights to and from Cairns a week.
One resident told the ABC they had worries this would impact the ability to access the remote community.
"It's really worrying, we might not be able to get on or off the Island, and even everyday items like getting mail via plane could be interrupted," they said.
The company has a much smaller presence in Western Australia, but still flies key routes between Perth and Albany, Esperance, Monkey Mia and Carnarvon.
Locals and community leaders told the ABC they felt they had been left in the dark by the airline.
Esperance mother of three Keena Creedon relies on the flights to get to and from Perth for cancer treatment.
"If we ended up with no airline … we would potentially have to look at moving to Perth," she said.
"I don't mind if it's Rex – or whoever it is – but we can't be left without an airline in our town."
In 2023, Rex reduced its Sydney services from seven regional cities, including Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Parkes and Orange, but said it hoped the measures would be temporary.
The trading halt has no affect on Rex flights.
'Very important' regional airline
Rex is the nation's third largest carrier.
Senior lecturer in tourism from the University of Technology Sydney, David Beirman, said the potential loss of Rex would be significant due to the number of regional communities it served.
"If you look at very substantial regional centres like Mildura, Broken Hill, Merimbula, in quite a lot of places, it's actually the only carrier that operates flights between the capital cities and those towns," he said.
"So, its influence as a regional carrier is actually very, very important."
Dr Beirman said he hoped the government would step in to help the airline.
"My particular hope, and I'm sure it's probably the same hope for the board of Rex, is that maybe government may come to offer a loan or some sort of arrangement whereby Rex can actually extricate itself from its problems," he said.