Qantas boss predicts Virgin and Rex won't both survive post-pandemic battle

Qantas boss Alan Joyce says Australia still only has room for two major airline groups and it is unlikely both Virgin Australia and new rival Regional Express (Rex) will survive the post-pandemic aviation dogfight. Joyce said Wednesday that country airline Rex launching flights between Sydney and Melbourne in March would spark fierce competition on the busy route. "My personal view is that this market has never sustained three airline groups and it probably won’t into the future," he said. "You can be guaranteed that Qantas will be one of them – it’s who else is going to be in the market place post this and into the future is going to be interesting." Rex's move to start jet aircraft services between capital cities is the biggest shake-up of the aviation market in decades. It currently flies to 59 regional and remote destinations around Australia. It plans to have a fleet of up to 10 Boeing 737s in the skies by the end of this year. Joyce also told the event that the Sydney coronavirus outbreak in December and resulting state border closures set back his airline's recovery from the pandemic by three months. Qantas had earlier predicted its domestic flying capacity would return to 80% of pre-COVID levels in the first three months of 2021 but Joyce said it would now be stuck at 60% before reaching 80% by mid-year.<br/>