Rex deputy chairman John Sharp has come out swinging at Qantas head Alan Joyce, saying the Australian national carrier secretly is “distressed” at Rex's plans to contest east coast capital city routes.

Sharp said Joyce wanted to make customers think Rex and Virgin Australia could collapse.

 

Rex is to start flying between Sydney and Melbourne on 01 March and it plans to expand flights to Brisbane by Easter.

 

Writing in the AFR, Sharp accused Qantas of being lucky, benefiting first from Ansett’s collapse and later, from Virgin Australia’s poor financial performance.