Rex (Regional Express) resumed flights to Merimbula from both Sydney and Melbourne as Merimbula Airport reopened on Friday, March 25.
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The company also announced it was scheduling additional services over Easter, the Anzac Day long weekend and the upcoming school holidays.
In a pointed reference to Qantas, the other airline operating in and out of Merimbula, Rex said it had resumed its 18 return Merimbula-Sydney services and up to 10 return Merimbula-Melbourne flights each week, which it said was "the greatest frequency of any airline operating to Merimbula".
"We have re-instated our flights just as soon as the airport re-opened as we know the importance of these vital regional air links, particularly for tourism-dependent holiday destinations," Rex's general manager network strategy, Warrick Lodge, said.
Mr Lodge took aim at Qantas for not re-starting flights until April 8 and also for its fares (according to the Qantas website) which were more expensive.
However on March 23 Rex announced that it would increase fares across its domestic and regional networks in response to "the steep increases in operational costs due to spiralling fuel costs and overall strong inflationary pressures".
"Fares will increase by $10 with some larger increases in the lower priced promotional (PROMO) fares," Mr Lodge said.
"With fuel prices shooting up by over 30 per cent in recent weeks and with supply chains being severely disrupted, the existing ticket prices are no longer tenable."
The International Air Transport Association's (IATA) own fuel monitor shows jet fuel prices in the Asia and Oceania region, have increased by 28 per cent in the last month, of which 10 per cent was in the last week. The biggest increases have been in North America, 56.4 per cent in the last month.
"This will be the first time Rex has increased fares in more than three years," Mr Lodge said.
He said the fare increase was to be effective for all new sales made from March 25.