and Rex have already fallen victim to the David vs Goliath battle that is competing against the Qantas and Virgin duopoly.They're slim, according to aviation expert and airline site Ratings.com founder Geoffrey Thomas."Unless you've got a massive backing… an investor who's got a bottomless pit of money, and is prepared to stick for 10 years at it, the track record is not good.
He warns Koala will have "significant challenges" taking on the loyal customer bases of Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin."People just don't want to go to any other airline because they say, yes, Qantas might be a bit more expensive or Virgin might be a bit more expensive," he said.Thomas said Koala chief executive Bill Astling has a big fight ahead of him, but acknowledged that in a David vs Goliath battle, "David sometimes wins".
It could be a boon for the carrier though Thomas said it's unlikely to pry loyal customers away from still booking with Qantas and Virgin.