. The airline is expecting a $35 million loss for the 12 months to June 30, with shares falling significantly on that news.They are now down 15.6 per cent in a month, last trading at $1.03. That is half their value when the airline struck a deal in late 2020 to secure the funds to expand beyond its regional services and into capital-city travel.
Virgin Australia and Qantas, meanwhile, have both collected new planes recently and are quickly expanding their international and domestic routes. Virgin collected its first of 33 Boeing 737-Max planes in Seattle last week, while Qantas said Jetstar took possession of its eighth A321neo from Airbus this month.
Rex was singled out by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission as having contributed to a large decrease in domestic airfares. Qantas and Virgin are offering flights that are 30 per cent cheaper on the routes where they compete with Rex, the regulator says. For now, Mr Sharp is confident that the airline has met most of its hefty development costs and can be profitable by next year.