Transport Minister Catherine King said she welcomed the Federal Court's decision to extend the process to 30 June 2025. 

“This allows us to continue to support the critical regional aviation services provided by Rex,” she said.

She said the decision gave Rex's administrators, Ernst and Young, the “best possible opportunity to implement an improvement strategy for the regional aviation business”.

“Our support for the Administrators’ application to the Federal Court for the extension recognises the important role that Rex plays in regional communities across Australia," the minister said.

Ms King said her department continues to meet regularly with Rex’s administrators as they “work to implement a strategy for the regional aviation business”.

“I encourage passengers to continue to support Rex’s regional operations," she said.

It comes after the federal government revealed it was propping up the company with $80 million in funding following calls for an intervention after the embattled carrier entered voluntary administration in July.

The support announced last week will keep Rex’s regional routes running as the process is extended, Ms King and Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt said.

Former employees will also be granted early access to the Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG) during the voluntary administration process.

“This will ensure that extending the voluntary administration period does not delay the ability of these employees to access their entitlements,” the ministers said.

“In addition, Rex’s administrators and main secured creditor PAG have advised they will pay the entitlements of former employees of the regional business who have been made redundant during the voluntary administration period.

“The government will also continue to guarantee ticket sales made throughout the voluntary administration to 30 June 2025, should the Federal Court agree to the extension application.

"The guarantee has been effective so far, and has yet to be used with flight bookings holding up well.” 

More than 600 jobs were lost as the airline fell into voluntary administration with the incident sparking fears remote communities would be prevented from accessing essential services in capital cities.

There was a fresh plea for the government to step in and save the embattled airline with a poll last month revealing 71 per cent of Australians wanted Labor to intervene to guarantee the future of regional routes.

The government’s funding came after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flagged he would “examine any proposals” to secure Rex’s future but criticised the airline for expanding its operations to include major city routes in early 2021.

“There are a range of issues relating to Rex. One is that a regional airline made decisions to invest in routes that they hadn’t previously gone in,” Mr Albanese told reporters in August.

“Sydney to Melbourne is not a regional route. It is one of the top-10 routes in the world and at various stages has been literally number one in the world.”