| |||||||
Founded | October 2021 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Commenced operations | 31 January 2023 | ||||||
Operating bases | |||||||
Fleet size | 4 | ||||||
Destinations | 21 | ||||||
Parent company | 777 Partners | ||||||
Headquarters | Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia | ||||||
Key people | Tim Jordan (Founder & CEO) | ||||||
Website | www |
Bonza Aviation Pty Ltd, operating as Bonza, is an Australian low-cost airline, headquartered on the Sunshine Coast. Bonza commenced operations on 31 January 2023. On 30 April 2024, the airline entered voluntary administration with all services suspended.
Bonza was founded in October 2021 by former Virgin Blue executive Tim Jordan. [1] [2] U.S. investment firm 777 Partners were the inaugural investors and backers. [1]
The airline signalled its intention to disassociate from the main cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, [1] instead setting up its headquarters at Sunshine Coast Airport [3] with the aim of growing the market by focusing on under-utilised and unserved routes between regional and domestic cities through a point-to-point network model, similar to that of Ryanair in Europe. [4] [5] As a low-cost carrier, Bonza launched without a frequent-flyer program or airport lounges [1] and limited bookings solely to its FlyBonza app. [6] To differentiate themselves from other airlines, Bonza launched as a "Bogan airline", appealing to the bogan Australian culture by offering items and services associated with bogans such as airline branded swim briefs known as budgie smugglers , food typically found at a school tuckshop, and the staff being labelled as "Legends". [7]
Bonza initially revealed its intention to begin flying by early 2022. [1] [2] However, its first routes were only announced in February 2022, [8] and the airline did not receive its air operator's certificate (AOC) from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority until 12 January 2023. [9] [10]
Sales for routes from the Sunshine Coast base began on 27 January 2023 after Bonza had received its AOC. There were eleven initial destinations:
The airline's initial route map also consisted of several other routes:
Bonza commenced operations on 31 January 2023, flying from its base at Sunshine Coast to the Whitsundays. [12] They initiated services with Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft [13] in an all-economy configuration, [14] becoming the first Australian airline to operate the Boeing 737 MAX. [15] [16] [17]
When announcing its initial network in February 2022, the airline also announced a second base in Melbourne. [8]
Tickets for flights to/from the Melbourne base were put on sale on 23 February 2023, with flights to:
Additionally, the airline also launched sales for several other routes:
Flights from the Melbourne base commenced on 30 March 2023 with the inaugural flight to the Sunshine Coast. [19]
Travel Weekly reported in late June that Bonza was attributing a recent increase in flight cancellations to an industry-wide pilot shortage. The airline had cancelled 4% of its flights since February, and had cancelled seven flights that were scheduled to operate in July. The airline's chief operating officer Carly Povey cited crew shortages, a pilot training program that was behind schedule, and aircraft that were temporarily put out of action due to bird strikes and weather events as some of the other causes of the reliability issues. [20]
On 13 July 2023, Bonza announced it would scrap five routes:
Whilst the ABC reported Povey stating that the changes were due to a lack of demand, [21] an open letter published on Bonza's website from Povey addressed to the airline's passengers noted that the airline had faced reliability issues and was delaying or cancelling flights, and that changes would allow the airline to focus on routes with "sustainable demand" and also provide spare capacity to mitigate delays and cancellations in case of reliability issues in the future. Apart from the cancelled routes, Bonza also announced frequency reductions by one weekly flight for several routes, and the addition of one weekly service to three routes: Sunshine Coast – Albury, Sunshine Coast – Melbourne (Avalon) and Melbourne (Tullamarine) – Port Macquarie.
The open letter also announced that sales for flights between late October 2023 and April 2024 would commence soon, and that work to establish a third base was progressing. [22]
On 1 August 2023, Bonza announced it would open its third base at Gold Coast Airport to coincide with the beginning of the summer holidays. [23] Flights would commence from the new base progressively starting in November, with routes from the Gold Coast to eleven destinations on the airline's existing route network:
The airline's media release also mentioned that due to global aircraft supply challenges, it would partner with a wet leasing provider to source the additional aircraft required to operate routes from the base. [24]
A few days later, Travel Bulletin reported that a reciprocal wet lease agreement had been entered into with Flair Airlines, which is also backed by 777 Partners and operates a fleet consisting entirely of the Boeing 737. Under the agreement, Bonza would send aircraft and crew to Canada to operate on Flair Airlines routes during the North American peak travel season, and Flair Airlines would do the same with their aircraft and crew for Bonza during the Australian peak travel season, hence providing additional capacity for both airlines during peak travel periods. Flair Airlines stated that it would wet lease two aircraft to Bonza for its Gold Coast base. [25]
On 24 August 2023, Bonza announced an additional route from the Gold Coast to Launceston, and hinted at additional routes from Launceston to be announced in the future. The route announcement marks the airline's entry into Tasmania, the fourth state to be serviced by the airline. Flights on the Gold Coast – Launceston route would start in November, around the same time as flights on the previously announced 11 routes would commence. [26]
On 18 September 2023, a twice-weekly Gold Coast to Mount Isa route was announced, which would commence on 5 December 2023. [27]
Two days later, the airline announced and launched sales for three new twice-weekly routes: Sunshine Coast to Darwin, Gold Coast to Darwin and Melbourne to Alice Springs. The launch of the routes will mark the airline's entry into the Northern Territory, its fifth Australian state or territory, which were the result of Northern Territory Government subsidies provided through its Territory Aviation Attraction Scheme, and the 20th and 21st destinations on its network. [28] On 30 November 2023 the airline cancelled all planned flights between Darwin and the Gold Coast during December, only hours before the first scheduled flight on the route. [29]
In late September, Bonza announced and launched Bonza Holidays, a package holiday booking scheme that bundles accommodation with flights and optional travel insurance. [30]
On 30 April 2024, Bonza entered voluntary administration after its aircraft were grounded by their lessors with Hall Chadwick appointed administrator. [31] [32] In response, Jetstar, Qantas, and Virgin Australia announced that Bonza customers scheduled to travel on that day, or stranded away from home due to the airline's operational suspension would be offered complimentary flights, subject to seat availability. [33] [34] [35] All Bonza flights up to and including 29 May 2024 have been cancelled by Bonza's administrators. [36]
During a Federal Court of Australia hearing in Sydney on 7 May 2024, it was revealed that creditors included 57,933 customers with forward bookings, 323 employees, and 120 trade creditors. Furthermore negotiations since the grounding between Bonza and the lessors of the aircraft were revealed to have failed, leaving the company unable to use its aircraft. [37] During Bonza Airline's creditors meeting held in Sydney on 10 May 2024, administrators disclosed that the airline has outstanding debts exceeding A$116 million to various stakeholders. This includes $77M in loans, $4.6M in unpaid aircraft leases, $10.5M in outstanding airport fees, $16M owed to trade suppliers and $5.3M to staff. [38] [39]
On 9 May 2024, the Canadian registered aircraft C-FLHI "Bruce" was flown out of Australia under a Flair callsign to Canada. [40] Administrators stated that legal intervention was not possible and AIP Capital have indicated its intention to fly the remaining Bonza aircraft out of the country. [41]
On 4 October 2022, Bonza announced a four-year sponsorship deal with Australian A-League Men's football club Melbourne Victory to be their front-of-shirt principal partner on both their home and away kits. [42] [43]
As of January 2024, Bonza operates 38 routes serving 21 destinations in New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria. [13] [44] [45]
On 30 April 2024, creditors repossessed all of Bonza's fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. [46] [47]
Bonza's fleet reached its peak of six aircraft in December 2023, by leasing two additional Canadian-registered Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft from its sister airline, Flair. The leasing agreement had encountered months of delays with Australian Government regulator Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) requiring Bonza to demonstrate how they would integrate the Canadian-registered aircraft and crew into their operation to ensure aviation safety leading to the delay. [48]
Bonza planned to convert these wet lease agreements into dry leases and register the aircraft in Australia. However, Bonza faced challenges in converting two short-term wet lease contracts into longer-term dry leases as the planes required recertification by government regulators. Consequently, one of the leased Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft returned to Flair in Canada in early March 2024, while the other remained parked at Sunshine Coast Airport since early March 2024. With the latter aircraft awaiting approval from CASA to operate under dry lease terms. [49] [50] [51]
Due to a lightning strike incident on one of Bonza's 737 Max aircraft in November 2023 leading to a shortage of aircraft to operate Bonza's scheduled routes, Bonza entered into temporary wet lease agreement with Nauru Airlines. Under the agreement Nauru Airlines operated on behalf of Bonza on some Bonza routes using Nauru Airlines B737-800 and B737-300 aircraft. [52] However in early April 2024 Nauru Airlines abruptly terminated the agreement. [53] On 10 May 2024 following Bonza entering voluntary administration the Australian Financial Review reported that Bonza owed Nauru Airlines around A$1 million in unpaid aircraft leases. [38]
As of 30 April 2024 [update] , when operations ceased, the Bonza fleet consisted of the following aircraft: [54]
Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Boeing 737 MAX 8 | 4 | — | 186 | All repossessed. [55] |
Total | 4 | — |
Bonza's 737 MAX 8 fleet consisted of 186 seats in an all-economy layout. Seats are laid out in a 3-3 configuration. [56] [57]
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, trading as Norwegian, is a Norwegian low-cost airline and Scandinavia's second-largest airline, behind Scandinavian Airlines. It is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe behind Wizz Air, easyJet and Ryanair, the largest airline in Norway, and the ninth-largest airline in Europe in terms of passenger numbers. It offers a high-frequency domestic flight schedule within Scandinavia and Finland, and to business destinations such as London, as well as to holiday destinations in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands, transporting over 30 million people in 2016. The airline is known for its distinctive livery of white with a red nose, with portraits of high achievers on the tail fins of its aircraft.
Cairns Airport is an international airport in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Formerly operated by the Cairns Port Authority, the airport was sold by the Queensland Government in December 2008 to a private consortium. It is the seventh busiest airport in Australia. The airport is located 2.3 nautical miles north northwest of Cairns or 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of the Cairns central business district, in the suburb of Aeroglen. The airport lies between Mount Whitfield to the west and Trinity Bay to the east.
Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an airline based in Brisbane, Australia. It is one of two active airlines to use the Virgin brand, as well as the larger by fleet size. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as Virgin Blue, with two aircraft on a single route. It suddenly found itself as a major airline in Australia's domestic market after the collapse of Ansett Australia in September 2001. The airline has since grown to directly serve 32 cities in Australia, from hubs in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
Gold Coast Airport is a domestic and international Australian airport located at the southern end of the Gold Coast and approximately 90 km (56 mi) south of Brisbane, within the South East Queensland agglomeration. The entrance to the airport is situated in the suburb of Bilinga near Coolangatta. The main runway itself cuts through the state borders of Queensland and New South Wales. During summer, these states are in two different time zones. The Gold Coast Airport operates on Queensland Time.
MIAT Mongolian Airlines is the state-owned national airline of Mongolia, headquartered in the MIAT Building in the country's capital of Ulaanbaatar. The airline operates scheduled services from its base at Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Sergelen, near Ulaanbaatar.
Avalon Airport is a domestic airport, located in Avalon in the City of Greater Geelong in Victoria, Australia. While located outside the Melbourne metropolitan area, it is the second busiest of the four airports serving the state capital in passenger traffic. It is located 15 km (9 mi) north-east of the Geelong CBD and 50 kilometres (31 mi) south-west of the Melbourne CBD. The airport is operated by Avalon Airport Australia Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Linfox.
PT Lion Mentari Airlines, operating as Lion Air, is an Indonesian low-cost airline based in Jakarta. Lion Air is the country's largest privately run airline, the second largest low-cost airline in Southeast Asia and the largest airline of Indonesia. With Wings Air and Batik Air, Lion Group is the country's largest airline's group. The airline operates domestic as well as international routes, which connects different destinations of Indonesia to Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, India, Japan and Saudi Arabia, as well as charter routes to Mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Macau, with more than 630 flights per day.
Townsville Airport is a major Australian regional airport that services the city of Townsville, Queensland. The airport is also known as Townsville International Airport, and Garbutt Airport, a reference to its location in the Townsville suburb of Garbutt. Townsville Airport is serviced by major Australian domestic and regional airlines, and in 2011/12 handled 1.7 million passengers making it the 11th busiest airport in Australia.
Sunshine Coast Airport is an Australian international airport located in Marcoola, 10 km (6.2 mi) north of Maroochydore, at the northern end of the Sunshine Coast. It is approximately 90 km (56 mi) north of centre of Brisbane, within the South East Queensland agglomeration. The airport is owned by Sunshine Coast Regional Council and is the principal and only jet-capable airport serving an urban area of nearly 400,000 residents.
Mackay Airport located in South Mackay, Queensland, Australia is a major Australian regional airport that services the city of Mackay, with flights to the cities of Brisbane, Rockhampton, Townsville, Hamilton Island, Cairns, Sunshine Coast and Melbourne. In the year ending 30 June 2012, the airport handled 969,900 passengers making it the 14th busiest airport in Australia.
Newcastle Airport is an international airport in Williamtown, New South Wales. It is located 15 kilometres; 9.2 miles (8 NM) north of Newcastle in Port Stephens. It is the 13th busiest airport in Australia, handling over 1.25 million passengers in the year ended 30 June 2017, an increase of 6.6% on the previous year. The airport occupies a 28 ha (69-acre) site on the southern border of RAAF Base Williamtown.
Mildura Airport is located 4 nautical miles southwest of Mildura, Victoria, Australia. It is the busiest regional airport in Victoria, the 33rd busiest Australian airport and has twice been named Australia's Rural Airport of the Year.
Albury Airport is a regional airport located 2 nautical miles northeast of Albury, New South Wales, Australia. The airport, which also serves Albury's adjacent twin city of Wodonga, Victoria, was the fifth busiest in New South Wales as of 2016–17, handling 257,769 passengers. However, like most Australian airports, the impacts of travel restrictions and state border closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a significant reduction in revenue passengers. ABX handled 107,934 passengers in the 2021–22 financial year and was the 32nd busiest airport in Australia. In addition to regular public transport flights, Albury airport handles a relatively large number of charter, freight, agricultural, and general aviation aircraft movements and hosts the official weather station for Albury–Wodonga.
Whitsunday Coast Airport, also known as Proserpine Airport, is located in Gunyarra, Queensland, Australia, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) south of Proserpine. The airport serves the mainland and offshore islands with flights to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne (Jetstar).
Coffs Harbour Airport is the only airport serving the City of Coffs Harbour, in the New South Wales Mid North Coast region in Australia. The airport is located 3 km (1.9 mi) south of Coffs Harbour and is one of the busiest regional airports in the state, serving flights to the east coast capital cities, as well as some regional destinations. Coffs Harbour Airport has the capacity to handle large aircraft such as the Boeing 767 or Boeing 777 but is predominately served by regional airlines using smaller aircraft.
Gladstone Airport is an airport serving Gladstone, a city in the Australian state of Queensland. It is located in the suburb of Clinton, about 10 km (6.2 mi) from the town's centre, off Aerodrome Road.
Flair Airlines, stylised as flair, is a Canadian ultra low-cost carrier (ULCC) headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta. The airline operates scheduled passenger and chartered services with a fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft. The company slogan is Plane and Simple. The airline promotes itself as being Canada's leading independent ULCC.
TUI Airways Limited is the British arm of the TUI Airline group, which is owned and operated by the TUI Group. They offer scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom and Ireland to destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America.
Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport is an airport in Wellcamp, 8.4 nautical miles west from the CBD of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.
Many aviation-related events took place in 2023.
Bonza flight AB1037, Boeing 737-MAX economy
There's only Economy Class onboard Bonza flights with a 3-3 configuration. But not all seats are created equal.