Bonza airline backed to succeed out of Toowoomba by aviation expert Sara Hales

Australia’s newest low-cost airline is coming to Toowoomba, and a top local aviation expert has warned residents to “use it or lose it” when it comes to the cheap fares.

Toowoomba residents have been urged to get behind upcoming low-cost flights out of Wellcamp Airport or risk losing the service altogether.

That’s the assessment from local aviation expert Sara Hales, who has backed upstart national budget airline Bonza to succeed in its massive launch this year.

Locals will have the chance to fly from the Garden City to Melbourne, Townsville and the Whitsundays soon, with the company’s CEO Tim Jordan hoping to bring flights online “within a number of weeks”.

It comes just after Bonza received approval from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to run 27 routes across eastern Australia, including 25 new flight paths.

Ms Hales, who is the former general manager of Wellcamp Airport and has an intimate knowledge of Toowoomba aviation, said residents would need to help justify the company’s decision to fly here.

“Bonza’s inclusion of Toowoomba in their national network brings low cost carrier services to Toowoomba for the first time,” she said.

“This creates a number of opportunities, both for residents to enjoy affordable air travel, for the growth of inbound tourism, and to leverage the presence of Bonza to influence other airlines to also add new services at Toowoomba to ensure they capture sufficient market share.

“Air services are always a use it or lose it proposition.

“Not only must a route be profitable in its own right in order to retain fleet allocation, but also, it must represent a better use of that fleet than other potential routes.

“In order to retain this exciting service for Toowoomba, it will be essential not only that we, as a community, use it, but also that we encourage any friends and family living in Melbourne, Townsville or Central Queensland, to visit us using this service.”

Sara Hales, aviation consultant.

While there have been concerns about Bonza’s long-term viability, Ms Hales said she was “optimistic” about its ability to succeed in a difficult market.

“Bonza have estimated their tickets at $50 per flying hour – they will be operating the newest, most fuel efficient domestic fleet in Australia,” she said.

“The model is unlike any tried in Australia before now and draws debate from across the aviation industry as to its sustainability.

“I’m an optimist. I’d like to think they’ve figured out how to make it work.”

Mr Jordan told The Chronicle flights out of its Sunshine Coast base would be available by the end of the month.

“Over the coming days, we would expect the Sunshine Coast base to go on sale first, with first flights to go on sale in late January,” he said.

“When it comes to Toowoomba, the flying we’ll be doing is actually from our Melbourne base, but as soon as we’ve got the Sunshine Coast base online, our attention turns to Melbourne.

“(Melbourne) will be (launched) number of weeks after the Sunshine Coast base, because there’s a lot of planning.”