Regional Express flights between Newcastle and Sydney are likely to be reduced in frequency or cut altogether with the airline foreshadowing "brutal" cuts in coming days.
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Rex runs multiple flights between Newcastle Airport and Sydney each day and is scheduled to have three flights departing Newcastle and three arriving from Sydney on Thursday.
The domestic airline is yet to detail which of its routes will be impacted, but told the Newcastle Herald cuts across its network were imminent.
"With regards to schedule changes, cuts will be brutal but clinical and Regional Express (Rex) will announce cuts in the next few days," a Rex spokesperson said.
"The safety, comfort, and wellbeing of our passengers and employees will always be our main priority.
"In response to COVID-19, Regional Express (Rex) has implemented widespread measures in accordance with advice promulgated by government, health and industry authorities.
"Rex would like to assure all passengers that we will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that we remain compliant with the most up-to-date advisories."
On Monday, Rex CEO Neville Howell said the airline would not "survive the next six months of this global emergency if the forecast of worldwide health experts materialises" and was likely to make "drastic schedule reductions" as well as "dropping some routes altogether".
"If Rex, with all its strengths, were to collapse, probably following the collapse of all other independent regional carriers, and maybe even a domestic carrier, there will be utter chaos and mayhem on many regional and rural communities that depend on regional air services to be their socio-economic lifeline," he said in a letter to deputy prime minister Michael McCormack.
Both Qantas and Virgin have already announced major cuts to domestic flights.
Qantas is cutting its flights by about 60 per cent, while Virgin will reduce its domestic capacity by 50 per cent.
The carriers are yet to outline the reductions and it flights to and from Newcastle Airport will be impacted.
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