Budget carrier Bonza unveils flight network and ‘backyard’ base

New budget carrier Bonza has revealed its home base and flight network including 20 currently unserviced by any other airline.

New low cost carrier Bonza will split its fleet between Melbourne and the Sunshine Coast to cover as many destinations as possible.

New low-cost carrier Bonza has finally revealed its home base and flight network, including just one capital city and a host of regional centres.

In what it is calling the largest launch announcement in Australian aviation history, the US-funded airline will operate 25 routes between 16 destinations from mid-year, using brand new Boeing 737 MAX 8s.

Two of the aircraft and a “spare” will be based on the Sunshine Coast at the airline’s headquarters, to be known as the Bonza Backyard, and another two in Melbourne.

Routes will include Rockhampton to Cairns, Townsville, the Sunshine Coast and Melbourne; the Whitsunday Coast to Newcastle, Toowoomba and the Sunshine Coast; and Melbourne to Bundaberg, Gladstone, Mackay and Mildura.

Fares are expected to go on sale next month, and average about $50 for flights of about one hour.

Bonza CEO Tim Jordan said 80 per cent of the routes it planned to fly were currently unserviced, and 96 per cent were not flown by another low-cost carrier. He said the operation would give people more options at ­affordable prices to explore their own backyard.

“With destinations ranging from Albury to the Whitsundays, travellers will now be able to fly direct instead of impossibly long road trips or stopping over in a major city,” Mr Jordan said.

“Aussies can look forward to enjoying more time at their destination and spending less of their hard-earned cash getting there in the first place.”

With 12 of the 25 routes to operate out of the Sunshine Coast, the regional centre will offer more flight options than any other airport in Queensland apart from Brisbane.

Sunshine Coast Airport CEO Andrew Brodie said Bonza’s decision to base itself at the terminal was a “great win” for the region as a whole.

“Through our latest modelling and forecasting and based on Bonza’s current schedule, we estimate that Bonza’s presence here on the Sunshine Coast will generate around $86m in visitor expenditure in the region in the first 12 months of flights being operational and bring an additional 367,000 seats directly into the Sunshine Coast,” Mr Brodie said.

“Bonza’s arrival is also in line with the airport’s $300m expansion plans to further strengthen its role as a regional facilitator of economic growth and diversity.”

To mark Tuesday’s announcement, Sunshine Coast tourist attraction the Big Pineapple changed from gold to purple in a nod to Bonza’s entry into the market.

Mr Jordan acknowledged there was much work to be done before flying took off in June or July, including the recruitment of about 75 pilots and hundreds of cabin crew.

“We’ve already had about 6000 applications, so there is a lot of interest and a lot of experience out there,” he said.

“I think we will appeal to a lot of older pilots because all of our flights will return to home base by the end of the day, so there will be no overnight stays for crew.”

It was all part of the low-cost model intended to keep operating costs as low as possible, Mr Jordan said.

“We’ve been approached by almost every NRL and AFL club seeking sponsorship,” he said.

“But we won’t be doing any of that because every dollar we don’t spend is another dollar off fares.”

Originally published as Budget carrier Bonza unveils flight network and ‘backyard’ base