The Albanese Government is protecting Rex's regional New South Wales slots at Sydney Airport to support it through the administration process.
Today, I directed the Slot Manager at Sydney Airport to suspend the application of the 'use it or lose it' test on Rex's regional NSW slot holdings for the current and upcoming scheduling season.
This test stipulates that airlines must use 80 per cent of their allocated slots or risk losing them. Its suspension will protect Rex's NSW regional slots at Sydney Airport until late March 2026.
Along with our guarantee for regional flight bookings, this forms part of our commitment to supporting regional communities and ensuring they are connected to major capital city destinations.
While this direction is in place, I expect Rex to hand back any slots that it does not intend to use for other airlines to operate in the upcoming scheduling season.
This will ensure other airline operators are not deprived of the ability to use unutilised slots.
Our Government will continue to work closely with Rex's administrator to determine a path forward that ensures regional aviation has a strong future in this country.
