Rex Airlines tried to fight Qantas with six 737s — and lost its entire regional network

Regional Express Airlines — Rex — was Australia's largest regional carrier, flying turboprops to communities that Qantas and Virgin had abandoned. In 2022 it made a strategic leap: it leased Boeing 737-800s and launched jet services on major city routes, directly challenging the two dominant airlines on their most profitable corridors.

The expansion was capital-intensive and the incumbents responded aggressively. Rex accumulated major debts, including roughly $50 million owed to its largest creditor, PAG. Its stock was delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange. On 30 July 2024 the airline suspended all jet services and entered voluntary administration, with Ernst & Young appointed as administrator.

The Australian federal government intervened to protect regional air services, taking on $50 million in debt and paying nearly $5 million to 34 regional airports that Rex owed money to. The regional turboprop operations survived; the jet dream did not. US aviation group Air T acquired Rex, and the airline exited administration in December 2025 — smaller, regional, and no longer trying to be something it was not.