Regional Express (Rex) is today proud to be the first organisation in Australia to receive the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) approval under the new Part 42 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASR) as a “Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation”.

Previously Australian airlines were under the CAR 42 Regulations which were strictly prescriptive and had a "one-size-fits-all’ approach. The new Part 42 is an outcome-based approach where the onus for quality, safety and compliance procedures is the responsibility of the Operator and allows the Operator to have its own mechanisms of regulatory compliance that is appropriate for its operating environment.

Commenting on the approval, Rex Chief Operating Officer Chris Hine said “Being the first operator in Australia to be approved under Part 42 is a testament to the maturity of our organization, and demonstrates that Rex is at the forefront of Australian aviation in airline safety, maintenance standards and service delivery."

The Director of CASA John McCormick attended the Rex Sydney headquarters to present the approval certificate to Rex this morning.

“The first Part 42 approval is an important milestone for aviation safety regulation, CASA and Regional Express,” Mr McCormick said. “I congratulate Rex for being the first airline to make the transition to the new maintenance regulations.”

Regional Express (Rex) is Australia’s largest independent regional airline operating a fleet of more than 40 Saab 340 aircraft on some 1,300 weekly flights to 36 destinations throughout New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland. The Rex Group comprises Regional Express, air freight and charter operator Pel-Air Aviation and Dubbo- based regional airline Air Link, as well as the pilot academy Australian Airline Pilot Academy.