Delta Air Lines has begun its interline agreement with Australian carrier Rex. The agreement came into force on October 25th and allows passengers to seamlessly connect from one airline to the other, fly under one booking, and use a single baggage drop.
Following Delta Air Lines’ split with Virgin Australia last year, the carrier was left without a partner in Australia until the agreement with Rex was announced. Virgin has since entered into an interline agreement with United Airlines.
Increased connectivity in Australia and the US
The agreement gives Rex passengers access to 40 cities in the US via Los Angeles, such as San Francisco, New York JFK, and Atlanta. In return, Delta Air Lines passengers can now connect via Sydney to one of Rex’s 58 destinations throughout Australia, including trunk routes like Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide.
To coincide with the launch of the interline agreement, Delta Air Lines will increase the frequency of its Los Angeles to Sydney service from December 16th from seven to 10 flights per week. Flights will be operated by the airline’s flagship Airbus A350-900 aircraft, of which the airline currently has 24 in its fleet, with a further 20 on order.
In addition to its daily DL41 flight, departing Los Angeles at 22:30, the carrier will operate flight DL43 on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, departing Los Angeles just one hour later at 23:30. The flights are scheduled to arrive in Sydney at 08:30 (+2) and 09:15 AM (+2) respectively.
The reaction from Delta Air Lines and Rex
Rex’s deputy chairman, John Sharp, celebrated the agreement, saying,
“We are proud to enhance our services to our ever-increasing loyal customers by offering seamless connections from our regional and domestic ports to a quality international carrier such as Delta Air Lines. This interline arrangement will make it easier for Australians to visit the US allowing customers to connect onto Delta Air Lines’ US network and for Americans to explore more of Australia with over 58 destinations. We are thrilled to be working with a world-class airline.”
Over at Delta Air Lines, the reaction was equally as positive. The carrier’s Head of Sales for Australia and New Zealand, Nicole Bennet, said,
“We are excited to be expanding the domestic Australian relationship with Rex Airlines to enable our customers to connect seamlessly to our Sydney - Los Angeles flight.”
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Rex – a return to profitability
Rex began operations in 2002 and has since shown impressive growth. The airline today boasts a fleet of 63 aircraft, including seven Boeing 737-800 aircraft, each seating 170-176 passengers in a two-class configuration. The airline also operates the world’s largest fleet of Saab 340 turboprop aircraft, each seating 33-36 passengers.
After a turbulent few years due to the pandemic, earlier this week, Rex’s chairman, Lim Kim Hai, announced that the airline had returned to profitability for the first time since resuming operations in February.
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