Bonza has delayed the start of its Darwin-Gold Coast flights - again

The government is defending its aviation attraction scheme after Bonza delayed flights for a second time. Read what happened.

For the second time in a month budget carrier Bonza has stiffed Territory passengers booked on their Gold Coast Darwin service.

Lured to the Northern Territory with the assistance of Territory taxpayers, the airline has announced its Gold Coast to Darwin service will now not commence until March after being delayed until January 2 following flights being delayed in December.

This comes just nine days after the airline confirmed Gold Coast-Darwin flights had received regulatory approval and would commence on January 2.

Flights are now booked to start between Darwin and the Gold Coast on March 19, 2024.

The NT government claimed credit for getting Bonza to the Territory with support from its $10m Aviation Attraction Scheme.

Bonza plane sitting on the tarmac at Gold Coast Airport.

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro on Friday attacked the scheme as a “disaster”.

“We saw Territory Labor desperately scramble to come up with a scheme to drive down airline prices and airline availability here in the Territory,” Ms Finocchiaro said.

“They put $10m on the table to bring new routes in Darwin and Alice Springs, but Bonza has been a disaster right from day one.

“The real question is though how has the Territory government done this deal with an airline who can’t deliver on its service promises to our community?

“What due diligence did they do before underpinning this investment in the airline.”

Ms Finocchiaro signalled the scheme’s death-knell if the CLP wins government in 2024.

“This is a short term sugar hit that’s not going to deliver sustainable airline routes to Territorians,” she said.

Bonza chief executive Tim Jordan.

“The CLP doesn’t support continued underpinning and funding of airline routes in and out of the Territory, what we need to be doing is growing our economy and ensuring that Territorians have long term security of connection in and out of Alice Springs and Darwin so they can maintain relationships with family and encourage investment and business growth.”

Acting Tourism Minister Chansey Paech said the Opposition Leader was wrong and distanced the government from Bonza’s scheduling decisions.

“Bonza is operated by a private company,” he said. “Our government has no role in its commercial, business or regulatory decisions.”

Bonza chief executive Tim Jordan said existing customers were given priority ahead of those hoping to use the Gold Coast-Darwin route.

“We want to be certain that we can provide a service that is reliable and to a standard that we’re proud of,” Mr Jordan told the ABC.

“Operating the Gold Coast-Darwin route prior to March would mean that we’d be putting a strain on our current capacity and we owe it to our customers and our Bonza legends to learn from our previous missteps by putting measures in place so that we can deliver reliable, low-cost air travel.”

Customers who had booked flights between January 2 and March 18 would be eligible for a full refund or a transfer to or from the Darwin-Sunshine Coast route, about three-hour’s drive along the M1 to the Gold Coast.

The NT government is preparing a response.

Originally published as Bonza has delayed the start of its Darwin-Gold Coast flights - again