Bonza cuts routes from Toowoomba, Sunshine Coast, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Tamworth, Cairns, Mackay, Whitsundays from August 1

Toowoomba residents have expressed sadness at the news that Australia’s newest low-cost airline had pulled one of its routes from the region.

New low-cost airline Bonza will cut five routes, including one from Toowoomba, in just weeks in a major schedule shake-up to focus on its best-performing flights.

Residents from Toowoomba, Sunshine Coast, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Tamworth, Cairns, Mackay and the Whitsundays will lose flights from its local airport from August 1 as part of the announcement on Thursday.

Wellcamp will lose the twice-weekly flight to the Whitsundays, while Bonza has also cut one of its four weekly flights from Toowoomba to Melbourne.

The first Bonza flight from Melbourne lands at Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport on April 17, 2023.

The move comes as the airline deals with a national pilot shortage and a depth issues with its aircraft numbers, which have forced the cancellation of a number of flights in recent months.

In some cases, Toowoomba families holidaying in Melbourne had their return flight cancelled just hours prior to lift-off.

While cancellations are a normal part of domestic air travel, Bonza’s decision to focus mainly on previously-unserviced routes left families having to find circuitous routes back to Queensland.

Residents have expressed sadness at the news, with one woman saying she’d recently booked tickets to the Whitsundays.

“Perfect I just bought a return trip from Whitsundays, I’m sure they knew they were cancelling the route last week when I purchased the flights,” she wrote.

Carly Povey, Chief Commercial Officer at Bonza. Image: Supplied

In an open letter to customers, Bonza CCO Carla Povey said the shake-up would ensure Bonza remained viable as its tries to crack the aviation duopoly of Qantas and Virgin.

“We’ve been compelled to take out five routes where there isn’t sustainable demand at present,” she said.

“22 routes remain and where there is very strong demand, we’re also starting to add in additional flights which is very positive this early on in Bonza’s journey.”

Ms Povey said any customers impacted would receive a text from the airline soon and get a full refund.

“To those customers who have or will face a cancelled flight – we apologise — please wait for our team to contact you,” she wrote.

“Australia has been waiting for a new airline and you’ve welcomed us with open arms and it is on us to deliver more consistently.”

Ms Povey said the introduction of more planes to service less routes would give Bonza more flexibility and resilience to external pressures and mechanical issues.

“Firstly, the changes will allow us to build in additional spare capacity within our current fleet of four aircraft, so we have a buffer when things don’t go to plan (and they will by virtue of being an airline),” she said.

“Secondly, by focusing on routes that are performing very well, we’re also taking decisive action by going where the demand is and in turn, setting Bonza up for the long haul – because competition in the airline industry is a good thing and the demand for Bonza is clear.”

Bonza’s struggles with some routes were predicted by former Qantas chief economist Dr Tony Webber earlier this year.

Four of the five routes that will be cancelled on August 1 were considered unviable by Dr Webber.

Ironically, the fifth route (Cairns to Mackay) was one Dr Webber thought could do well based on his analysis.