Rex Airline Suspends Services to Orange and Port Macquarie Amid High Fuel Costs

Regional Express (Rex) has announced that it will indefinitely halt flights to and from Sydney and two NSW destinations, effective October 25. The airline cited high fuel prices and lack of demand as the reasons for suspending services to Orange in the Central West and Port Macquarie on the Mid North Coast.

Independent MP Andrew Gee, whose federal electorate includes Orange, described the decision as a "real shock". "It feels like a slap in the face or a kick in the guts for the whole region after everyone called for so much support and so much pressure was put on the government to deliver it," he said.

Rex received a Commonwealth bailout and was later bought by US-based air services company Air T in late 2025, with the federal government providing a $60 million support package and an additional $108 million to help restructure existing Commonwealth debt. In exchange, Air T made commitments to increase the number of aircraft in service, maintain an ongoing level of service to regional Australia, and increase frequencies of profitable flights across its network.

A spokesperson for Federal Transport Minister Catherine King issued a statement acknowledging the Rex decision would be "be disappointing for many". "In return for support from the Australian Government, Air T agreed to a set of regional commitments aimed at maintaining Rex's services to regional Australia," the spokesperson said. "Notwithstanding these changes, Rex continues to operate one of Australia's largest regional air networks."

Rex stated that affected customers would be offered "refunds or re-bookings". "The environment of entrenched high fuel prices driven by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, together with lack of demand, do not make these routes commercially viable at this time," the statement said. REX said it would monitor the situation and consider reinstating the routes "once fuel prices decrease to a level that makes it commercially viable for flights to resume".

Port Macquarie Mayor Adam Roberts said the area's $700 million annual visitor economy would be hit by the Rex decision. "The reality is that it has a significant flow-on effect to our community," he said. "Living in a regional area, we absolutely need these vital services."

Orange Mayor Tony Mileto is pessimistic about the prospect of the service ever being reinstated. "I don't think they'll be backflipping on the decision," he said. Cr Mileto said there was clearly demand among the other airlines that serviced the airport, including Qantas and Link Airways.