Australia’s largest independent regional airline, Rex Airlines, has delivered a fresh blow to domestic regional connectivity, announcing it will eliminate and scale back several cross-state routes between Victoria and Tasmania starting later this month, citing runaway fuel costs as the primary driver of the decision.
In a public statement released Friday, the carrier confirmed two routes will cease operations entirely from June 20: Melbourne to Devonport, and King Island to Burnie. Starting two days later on June 22, the airline will also cut weekly service frequency on three additional regional routes: Melbourne to Mildura, Melbourne to Burnie, and Melbourne to King Island.
A spokesperson for Rex explained that the unpredictable volatility of the current operating environment, paired with persistently rising fuel expenses, left the airline with no other option to maintain operational sustainability. The company moved quickly to reassure impacted passengers that all ticketholders for canceled services will be fully supported, with full refunds or free rebooking onto alternative Rex services available with no hidden fees.
Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kerry Vincent acknowledged that the exit from the Devonport route is disappointing, but moved quickly to ease public concern, noting that competitor Qantas already maintains multiple daily services on the route that will continue to meet traveler demand. Vincent added that route adjustments have become increasingly common across the entire Australian aviation sector, especially for smaller regional services that are far more exposed to sudden cost swings than high-traffic trunk routes between major cities.
“We understand how critical these air links are for local residents, small businesses, and the tourism economy that supports many of these regional communities,” Vincent said. “Any break in air connectivity hits regional areas disproportionately hard, and we recognize the anxiety and disruption this decision will cause for people who rely on Rex’s services.”
Nationals Party MP Anne Webster, who represents the Mildura region, echoed that disappointment in comments to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, noting that even a reduction in service frequency at Mildura Airport—Victoria’s largest regional air facility—creates significant inconvenience for local residents. Mildura is the most geographically isolated population center in Victoria, making reliable air service a critical lifeline for the region’s 50,000-plus residents and the broader Sunraysia agricultural district.
Webster noted that Qantas and Rex currently operate competing schedules out of Mildura, and she called on both carriers to adjust their timetables to fill the gap left by Rex’s cuts, in order to preserve travel choice for local people.
The cuts mark the latest round of route restructuring for Australian regional carriers, which have struggled to recover from pandemic-era travel shutdowns while absorbing sharp increases in jet fuel and labor costs over the past two years. Industry analysts note that small regional routes, which often operate with lower passenger volumes and smaller aircraft, are the first to be cut when input costs rise, as carriers are unable to pass full price increases onto consumers without driving away demand.