Australian Gov’t ignored local carriers keen to take over Rex

By Andrew Curran.

11.45 AEDT. 25.02.26: Updated with input from the Transport Minister's office.

Australia’s transport minister ignored a proposal by the Regional Aviation Association of Australia (RAAA) for some of its member airlines to take over Rex’s regional routes following the airline filing for administration.

Yesterday, RAAA Chairman Malcom Sharp told an Australian Government Senate Committee hearing in Tasmania on that Minister Catherine King wouldn’t even give them a meeting. Instead, he said the government elected to sell Regional Express (Rex) to a foreign company with "no connection" to the local communities Rex serves.

“We got crickets,” Sharp said.

Local carriers ignored in favour of offshore buyer

In late 2025, after Regional Express lingered in administration for almost 18 months, the administrators finally found a buyer for the airline.

US-based Air T offered AUD50 million (USD35.4 million) to take on Rex’s aging fleet of propellor aircraft and network of scheduled passenger transport flights to regional and remote towns across Australia.

By this time, the Australian Government had become Rex’s largest creditor, holding onto a debts of approximately AUD120 million (USD84.9 million).

As part of the sale package, the government also agreed to extend Regional Express an AUD60 million (USD42.4 million) loan to help get the fleet ship-shape again. Sharp says that money would have been better directed to existing Australian airlines.

Sharp says RAAA carriers, which include Sharp Airlines (of which he is the founder and managing director), Link Airways, FlyPelican, Hinterland Aviation, Airlink, Skippers Aviation, and Nexus, among others, had a “great solution” to the Rex problem.

Six months to get sorted

That proposal involved the government funding them, whether through grants, zero-interest or low-interest loans, to adjust their combined fleets and infrastructure to provide a “national solution” to support regional aviation in Australia.

RAAA airlines operate everything from single engine piston aircraft to Embraer jets.

“Previous requests we put (to the minister’s office) to have a meeting were met with next to nothing,” Sharp said.

Last week, Air T posted images online of its Chairman and CEO Nick Swenson and REX CEO Neville Howell meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and King.

“If I was mitigating the (financial) risk for Australia, I would have distributed that (money) over a number of airlines and reinforced the local product,” said Sharp.

Sharp says the airline collective included three from Western Australia, two from Queensland, and two from New South Wales and Victoria, plus his own carrier. The RAAA chair says the airlines had the capacity, with a few tweaks, to fill the REX vacuum, but needed about six months to get things organised.

He says the government’s decision to choose a foreign investor over local airlines will restrict future growth opportunities for local aviation providers.

“We weren’t even in their thoughts,” Sharp says about the decision-making.

But Minister King's office told Aero South Pacific that Rex's sale process was the responsibility of the voluntary administrator and their sales agent.

"While the Government provided support to ensure Australia’s largest regional carrier could continue to fly, the minister was not involved in the assessment or sale process," a spokesperson said.

RAAA chair says Rex failure was a national warning

Rex’s fleet of fifty-six Saab 340s (almost half remain parked) service 53 airports around Australia. The plan by the RAAA members would have kept some of those aircraft, along with using some of the existing aircraft in their own fleets, and tapping government money to get some new aircraft, to take over the Regional Express network.

It is unclear how developed the proposal was. However, except for CASA mandated risk assessments, the interested airlines already held the required approvals and certifications to step into the breach. 

Sharp said he found many of the government’s decision about Regional Express “perplexing.”

“The collapse of REX was not simply a business failure, it was a national warning,” he said, noting that all levels of government have spent over AUD300 million (USD212.1 million) over the years trying to keep REX afloat.

“The ultimate outcome (the sale to Air T) is deeply concerning,” Sharp added. “Much of the taxpayer funded help is now flowing to an overseas investment group with no connection to Australia, no link to regional communities and to the long-term future of Australia’s essential air services.”

Catherine King says the Australian Government remains committed to ensuring regional Australians have choice and affordability for flights

Photo: Aero South Pacific

Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com