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Australian travellers will now have easy access to 40 US destinations when flying with Rex Airlines (ASX: REX), which today announced an interline service agreement with major air carrier Delta Air Lines.
Under the deal, Delta passengers travelling from either the US, Canada or Mexico can also connect to more than 58 Australian destinations, including Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie.
The news comes a day after the airline reported its domestic operations were back in the black and almost two weeks following competitor Qantas (ASX: QAN) indicating its underlying profit for the first half would land between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion.
Rex passengers will now be able to book all flights, including connecting flights, under one booking.
“We are proud to enhance our services to our ever-increasing loyal customers by offering seamless connections from our regional and domestic ports to a quality international carrier such as Delta Air Lines,” Rex deputy chairman John Sharp AM said.
“This interline arrangement will make it easier for Australians to visit the US allowing customers to connect onto Delta Air Lines’ US network and for Americans to explore more of Australia with over 58 destinations. We are thrilled to be working with a world-class airline.”
In an update on the ASX yesterday, Rex executive chairman Lim Kim Hai said the airline’s domestic jet operations only properly began in February due to the shutdowns caused by COVID-19.
“To turn in a profit so soon after the restart of operations is truly unprecedented in the airline world,” Hai said.
“True to form, our domestic jet network passenger numbers for the first three months of this financial year grew by 60 per cent, 34 per cent and 77 per cent respectively when compared to June 2022.”
“Revenue growth has been even stronger at 84 per cent, 47 per cent, and 137 per cent for the same three months, suggesting significant yield improvements.”
In response to the strong demand, Rex is actively looking to secure two additional Boeing 737-800NG to expand its domestic fleet.
“We are excited to be expanding the domestic Australian relationship with Rex Airlines to enable our customers to connect seamlessly to our daily Sydney - Los Angeles flight,” Delta Airlines Australia and New Zealand head of sales Nicole Bennett said.
“This service will increase to 10 flights per week from 18 December flying our flagship A350.”
Rex is Australia’s largest independent regional and domestic airline operating a fleet of 61 Saab 340 and 7 Boeing 737-800NG aircraft to 58 destinations across all of Australia. Last month, it became a 50 per cent shareholder of Fly-In-Fly-Out (FIFO) charter and freight operator National Jet Express (NJE).
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