Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) shares were badly hit when COVID-19 all but shut down domestic and international flights.
As borders have slowly been reopening, Qantas shares have also recovered. Though they remain down some 25% from the pre-pandemic levels in early 2020.
With international travel remaining tricky and subject to change on the whims of foreign governments, Qantas has seen its domestic numbers return faster than overseas travellers.
This has also seen the airline's subsidiary, QantasLink expanding its domestic routes. And, as the Motley Fool reported earlier this month, that drew the ire of Regional Express Holdings Ltd (ASX: REX). But Rex isn't sitting on its laurels.
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Rex has big expansion plans
The smaller airline carved its niche in the industry with a fleet of propeller planes, servicing rural Australia where the major airlines have less of a presence.
But it's got bigger plans in mind.
Last year the airline began competing more directly with Qantas when it began flying major routes, like Melbourne-Sydney and Melbourne-Adelaide, with a fleet of six Boeing 737s.
Now, as Bloomberg reports, Rex Chairman Lim Kim Hai says he intends to increase that fleet "to as many as 30 by adding a plane every two to three months".
Speaking at the Singapore Airshow, Lim said: "That's a very good medium-term objective. There's a lot to be said for economies of scale".
COVID-19 restrictions hit Rex hard as well, but the regional carrier has more than recovered. While Qantas shares remain down 25% from pre-pandemic levels, the Rex share price is up approximately 30%.
And Lim said an uptick in recent bookings indicate travel numbers may have hit bottom.
"I'm just starting to see in the last six or seven days a turnaround. Significant enough for me to believe that probably the bottom has been reached," he said.
How have Qantas shares been tracking?
As domestic borders have reopened, save Western Australia, and international travel is scheduled to resume next Monday, 21 February, Qantas shares have benefitted.
So far in 2022, the Qantas share price is up 5.5%. The Rex share price is up by 2.1%. That compares to a 3.8% loss posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).
