Rex - Regional Express (ZL, Wagga Wagga) says it has deferred plans for flights to Cape York, a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland, as the administrator of Skytrans (QN, Cairns), the defunct operator that had plied the routes, has refused to sign a Charter Substitution Arrangement (CSA) which would allow REX to obtain regulatory approval to commence regular air services within a week.
Following the sudden closure of the airline Skytrans, REX had hoped to begin servicing the region by the end of January.
However, in a statement, REX claimed Skytrans administrators, William Fletcher and Tracy Knight of Bentleys Chartered Accountants, had 'refused' to cooperate in signing the CSA.
"The Charter Substitution Arrangement requires a sign-off by the Skytrans Administrator as a formality and it does not carry any liability, risks or responsibility for the defunct operator and its Administrator. Unfortunately the Administrator has refused to cooperate in signing-off on the Charter Substitution Arrangement, in spite of an offer of full indemnity by Rex and representations made by the Department of Transport and Main Roads," it said.
As such, REX says it will now begin the regulatory approval process to operate Regular Passenger Transport (RPT) flights to the Cape using its fleet of Saab 340Bs. Regulatory approval aside, the carrier has set a revised mid-March date for the launch of flights from Cairns to Aurukun, Pormpuraaw, Kowanyama, and Bamaga with Lockhart River and Coen to follow once market research has been completed.
With Skytrans now gone, REX along with Hinterland Aviation (OI, Cairns) and West Wing Aviation (Mount Isa) are expected to take up the slack left on the carrier's network.
