Money
Battle of the skies: Rex threatens Qantas with lawsuit
Qantas has been warned it could face legal action by smaller rival Rex
Rex has accused Australia’s national carrier of capacity dumping and predatory practices in domestic travel.
After complaining to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Rex Airlines is now seeking advice on other legal remedies for what it calls “Qantas’ anti-competitive behaviour”.
Rex deputy chairman John Sharp stated that since his airline announced its expansion into domestic routes, Qantas had tried to intimidate Rex.
Sharp says Qantas did so by launching flights on nine regional routes in competition with the smaller airline.
The chairman of the regional carrier stated Qantas had dumped 80 percent of extra capacity on the Sydney-Melbourne routes in March, at the same time as Rex began services.
“Qantas has publicly begged for another bailout from the federal government in the form of JobKeeper-style support, even though it has already received about $2 billion worth of commitments in federal and state assistance,”
Mr Sharp said.
To date, the ACCC has not found any evidence of anti-competitive behaviour by Qantas but the watchdog continues to closely monitor all airlines in the domestic market
Qantas says it was “beyond them why Rex felt the need to constantly make nonsensical attacks on Qantas instead of focusing on their own business”.
“We don’t intend to take that same approach but we will continue to correct the record,” she said.
Qantas spokesperson said.
In regards to the capacity dumping claim, the spokeswoman said flights increased on the Sydney-Melbourne route in March in response to demand when borders reopened.
Rex has recently suspended its capital city flights and grounded all Boeing 737 jets
The airline announced they will also be reducing the frequency of its regional flights, as city lockdowns and state border closures continue to impact the Australian air travel market.
Rex’s entire Boeing 737 fleet has been grounded, along with its new network of flights linking Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, the Gold Coast, and Adelaide.
Limited regional services will remain in place
Rex will continue to keep communities connected by continuing regional flights, but see reductions in frequency, in some cases with only a handful of flights per week.