Whyalla City Council, Media Release, 29 May 2023

Following Rex Airlines’ decision to exit its operations from Whyalla, Qantas has announced additional flights to help address the gap that will be created by Rex’s departure.

As of 1 July 2023, Qantas will be adding additional flights to-and-from Whyalla on:

• Monday morning
• Thursday evening
• Friday evening
• Saturday morning

Mayor Phill Stone thanked Qantas for its commitment to Whyalla and willingness to increase its level of service.

“There is still a lot of work to be done to fill the gaps in service, so we are working extensively with the broader airline industry to explore options to help minimise the impact of Rex’s decision,” Mayor Stone said.

“The Federal Government only recently highlighted Whyalla as one of three key locations for Australia’s burgeoning hydrogen industry – expected to benefit from the $2 billion Hydrogen Headstart Program and help expand the nation’s green economy, create new jobs, significantly reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality.

“Coupled with the influx of workers to cater for GFG Alliance’s green steel and magnetite expansion plans, this presents a truly unique opportunity for airline operators to be involved in the biggest industrial and economic boom in Whyalla since the 1960s.

“In order to cater the hydrogen industry, we will need to develop a state-of-the-art airport and relationships with operators willing to play a key role in building our nation, while sharing our vision of a more secure, safer, cleaner future for regional communities like Whyalla.”

Council has contacted the Department of Home Affairs to review whether reconfiguring the airport is an option to provide for both screened and unscreened passengers (as suggested by Rex Airlines).  

“Providing a two-tiered, screened-and-non-screened service from our airport feels counterintuitive to the Federal Government’s mandate to improve national airport security. However, we will invite the Department of Home Affairs to review this option and can then consider funding options if it’s deemed possible,” Mayor Stone said.

“We are also open to ongoing discussions with Rex if they choose to reengage with us.

“Together with local State and Federal MPs – who align with our approach – we will also continue our extensive lobbying to the relevant Federal Ministers for a national security levy across all flights.

“This would see the cost of security screening shared across all air travel – adding about 75 cents to each flight nationally – as opposed to the current model that makes regional travel disproportionately more expensive.”