Reduced Regional Express losses clouded by uncertain times

The continued turbulence Regional Express is experiencing in the first half of fiscal 2022 could dog the entire financial year, chairman Lim Kim Hai has warned. Lim struck the cautionary note as he released the airline’s 2021 annual results Tuesday, noting the airline had never been ravaged as badly as the fall in global passenger numbers stood at more than triple that experienced in the Global Financial Crisis. “The first half of the FY22 will continue to be dominated by rolling lockdowns and border closures,’’ he said. READ: QantasLink runway overrun has lessons for pilots “It is possible that the second half will be struck by further waves of infection given the experience of other highly-vaccinated countries. As such the outlook for the year is highly uncertain.” Regional Express, which had already flagged its losses to the market, reported a net loss of $A4.86m, compared to a loss of A$19.4m in 2020. The company’s $A18.4m underlying operating loss before tax, was also an improvement on the 2020 loss of $27.4m. Passenger numbers fell 29 percent as revenue dropped 20 percent to $252.6m. “In these circumstances, Rex has performed relatively well in a full year of operations under the pandemic,’’ Lim said. “I am pleased that we have even managed to improve on our performance over the prior year which was only affected by COVID for a third of the year.” Lim pointed to the role the Australian government played in supporting the industry, speculating that all passenger airlines in Australia would be in administration without the help. Rex received $87.4 million in government assistance and Lim said the continued support would ensure that airlines would have their infrastructure intact “ready for the recovery when it comes”. The airline expanded into the mainline domestic market during the pandemic with Boeing 737 flights between major markets. It has since grounded its six leased jets and told The Sydney Morning Herald reported it had delayed deliveries of four more until the domestic market stabilized.