Copyright brisbanetimes
Our ailing regional airline Rex has seemingly got a buyer, and it’s a relatively unknown North Carolina-based company, Air T, whose business is mainly operating freight delivery services and trading aviation spare parts. So good news for regional travellers and the Albanese government, but a rescue deal for Rex isn’t exactly a glamorous event. The government has kept Rex’s financial heart beating for almost a year. It had to because many of the airline’s customers don’t have many choices. Air T Inc isn’t some high-profile commercial airline or even some big-brand private equity player that’s looking to revive Rex and flick it on down the track for a big price. This is no repeat of the Virgin administration in which buyers were fighting with one another to recapitalise the airline, strip out its costs and debt to make it profitable as the second player in the national aviation duopoly. And there’s no Qatar Airways lurking around looking at Rex.
