Bonza airline set for Melbourne Airport base and routes

Australia’s newest airline, Bonza, is set to take ‘Shazza’ and ‘Bazza’ to the skies — and Melbourne is on the radar.

Bonza is Australia's newest airline

Mystery surrounds when Australia’s newest — and self-titled “bogan” — airline will touch down in Melbourne.

Bonza took to the skies from the Sunshine Coast last week to mark its debut in the Australian market with a larger rollout to come.

With planes named ‘Sheila’, ‘Bazza’ and ‘Shazza’, there’s no doubting Bonza’s Australian roots.

But when will the budget airline touch down at Tullamarine?

Chief commercial officer Carly Povey said Victorians could see a ‘Shazza’ flying near them very soon.

“Our team of legends are now focused on rolling out routes from our home base on the Sunshine Coast,” she said.

“We‘re also finalising our preparations to go on sale with our Melbourne base, which includes nine routes, seven of which are currently not served by any other airline.”

The airline already has a Melbourne connection as the principal partner of Melbourne Victory with the former’s logo on the A-League Men‘s jersey.

“My advice to all Melbourne travellers is to download the Fly Bonza app to be the first to know when our Melbourne routes are on sale,” she said.

“We are so humbled by the response we‘ve received since going on sale and launching our first ever flight on Tuesday, January 31. Aussies are embracing our app-first approach and the feedback from the on-board experience has been nothing short of Bonza.”

When the new airline does touch down at Tullamarine, it will mark a further increase to the airport’s rapidly growing fleet of services.

As airlines return to the skies post-pandemic, Melbourne has welcomed back Singapore’s budget airline as well as China’s three biggest airlines with China Eastern Airlines already touching down.

It comes after the airport revealed there were close to 2000 jobs available as they look to supply a workforce to meet the increasing flight demand.

Here are the Melbourne routes for Bonza:

• Bundaberg – 2 flights per week
• Gladstone – 2 flights per week
• Mackay – 2 flights per week
• Mildura – 3 flights per week
• Port Macquarie – 2 flights per week
• Rockhampton – 3 flights per week
• Sunshine Coast – 4 flights per week
• Tamworth – 2 flights per week
• Toowoomba Wellcamp – 4 flights per week