Rex has completed their purchase of Fly-In-Fly-Out (FIFO) operator, National Jet Express, signaling a major expansion into Queensland and the Northern Territory. National Jet Express was the regional services arm of Cobham Aviation Services Australia.
On Friday (September 30, 2022), Rex Express Holdings Ltd. announced the completion of the purchase of Cobham Aviation Services Australia’s National Jet Express (NJE), the company’s Fly-In-Fly-Out regional services arm. With the acquisition, Rex will initial a major expansion into Queensland and the Northern Territory.
In Friday’s announcment, Rex’s Executive Chairman, Lim Kim Hai, said,
“As we now officially complete the purchase, I would like to pay tribute to the sellers, Advent International, which have prepared the sale in the most meticulous and professional way I have ever seen in my life. There is no better operator of air services in Australia than the Rex Group, be it for reliability or financial performance. Over the last 14 years for example, when the entire global economy has been shaken to the core by the Global Financial Crisis and COVID-19, Rex has still managed to achieve a positive gross return of 2.9%, compared to Singapore Airlines’ 1.3%, while Qantas showed a disgraceful negative 1.9%. In fact, over the last 18 years, Rex made more absolute accumulated profits than Qantas!”
“Rex will overlay this financial and operational prowess on NJE’s core strengths to transform it to be Australia’s premier FIFO operator. Resource companies all over Australia can now count on a modern, comfortable and environmentally-friendly fleet for their FIFO needs instead of relying on 30-year-old Fokker 100 aircraft used predominantly by the other operators. In anticipation of the surge in demand for NJE’s services, we are looking to lease immediately another two De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 NextGen (NG) aircraft to add to its fleet. We will continue to invest in new aircraft and technology to grow the business, especially in Queensland where resource companies have been facing severe issues with capacity and reliability in recent years.”
“We look forward to meeting the NJE staff in the coming weeks to discuss our plans in more detail and I’m sure NJE will play an important role in Rex’s success going forward.”
Rex is Australia’s largest independent regional and domestic airline. The carrier operates a fleet of 61 Saab 340s and seven Boeing 737-800NGs, serving 58 destinations throughout all Australian states. The Rex Group also includes wholly-owned subsidiaries Pel-Air Aviation (an airfreight aeromedical and charter operator) as well as two pilot academies, Australia Airline Pilot Academy in Wagga Wagga and Ballarat.
Source: Rex Airlines