Rex Airlines has reignited a long-standing battle with Qantas over its fleet expansion into previously Rex-exclusive routes, after pulling out from a key battleground.

Rex announced it will exit the Melbourne-Albury route after 39 years, with its final service on the route to take place on 29 May. It comes after Qantas took on the service in February 2021, with the move to see Qantas claim a monopoly on the route.

Melbourne-Albury was one of the first eight previously Rex-exclusive routes that Qantas subsequently entered, which sparked a fiery war of words between the two carriers, and an ongoing back-and-forth that has seen both airlines battling over each other’s regional routes.

The battle saw Qantas CEO Alan Joyce mock Rex’s “empty aircraft” while Rex deputy chairman John Sharp called Qantas’ moves “predatory”, and questioned how Joyce can “look at himself in the mirror some mornings”. Qantas has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

“This route is the casualty of Qantas’ illegal predatory behaviour to drive out competition in a war of attrition, knowing that its competitors do not have the balance sheet to lose money indefinitely,” Sharp said of Thursday’s decision.

Sharp stated that pre-COVID, about 22,000 passengers per year flew between Albury and Melbourne, which he said is “hardly enough passengers for one carrier let alone two”.

“Qantas then entered the route – one of nine Rex regional routes targeted by Qantas during the COVID pandemic – dumping an additional 31,000 seats annually into the market,” he said.

“It is with a heavy heart that we have to exit this route, after servicing it faithfully for the last 39 years. Rex has no choice but to look after itself.

“Sadly for the community, we will soon see Qantas providing only a token service once it sees that it has achieved its objectives.”

The news comes after a brief cease-fire in the aggressive back-and-forth, which last saw Rex pledge in February to pursue “all legal avenues” against the Flying Kangaroo, and promise to launch more services on routes that compete with Qantas.

The tit-for-tat battle ramped up after Rex announced plans for its own grand entrance into capital city routes in 2020 on a fleet of second-hand Boeing 737s. The previously regional carrier took off on its first Melbourne-Sydney flight on 1 March 2021.

In February 2021, Qantas took on eight separate routes that were previously exclusive to Rex: Sydney—Orange, Sydney–Merimbula, Sydney–Griffith, Melbourne–Merimbula, Melbourne–Albury, Melbourne–Wagga Wagga, Melbourne–Mount Gambier, Adelaide–Mount Gambier.

Qantas has previously said of the battle: “Rex’s idea of competition is that it’s something that happens to other people, because they believe they have an enshrined right to be the only carrier on some regional routes.”

Earlier this year, Qantas announced it would soon also begin operating two weekly return flights between Sydney and Broken Hill – a route that Rex has operated solely for 18 years.

Speaking with ABC Radio in February, Sharp accused Qantas of unnecessarily “swamping” the market but insisted Rex would adjust its operations as needed to compete.

Sharp suggested that Qantas was only moving into the Broken Hill route in order to “retaliate” at Rex’s decision in late 2020 to expand into the domestic capital city market, placing it in competition with Qantas.

“They don’t like that, and they’ve made lots of complaints to people about our behaviour in moving into that market. So, in retaliation, they’ve been moving into our regional market,” Sharp said.