Bonza, the trading name of Bonza Aviation Pty Ltd, is an upcoming Australian

low-cost airline A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

founded by former Virgin Blue executive Tim Jordan, along with Lydia Valenzuela and Peter McNally. The airline is funded and backed by 777 Partners, a private investment firm based in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, USA. The airline is planning to commence operations in Australia in 2022, and will predominantly serve new domestic and regional routes within Australia.

History

Jordan states that the airline will disassociate from the highly competitive

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Sydney and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

hub 'golden' triangle, used heavily by incumbent airlines

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...

Virgin Australia Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as ''Virgin Blue'', with two ...

, Rex and

Jetstar Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, operating as Jetstar, is an Australian low-cost airline (self-described as "value-based") headquartered in Melbourne. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by airline Virgi ...

. Instead, the airline aims to grow the market by focussing on under-utilised and unserved routes between regional and domestic cities through a point-to-point network model. This model has been compared to that of Ryanair in Europe. The airline intends to operate as a low-cost carrier, and not offer expensive features such as a frequent-flyer program and

airport lounge An airport lounge is a facility operated at many airports. Airport lounges offer, for selected passengers, comforts beyond those afforded in the airport terminal itself, such as more comfortable seating, quieter environments, and often better acce ...

s. The airline also aims to provide jobs for Australian airline staff who have previously been stood-down due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Its headquarters will be at Sunshine Coast Airport. On 4 October 2022, despite still waiting on their air operator's certificate, Bonza announced a four year sponsorship deal with Australian

A-League Men A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...

's football club

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...

which includes front of shirt sponsorship on both their home and away kits.

Destinations

Bonza will commence operations with 27 routes serving 17 destinations in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

.Revealed: Bonza will fly 25 routes to 16 destinations
'' Australian Aviation'' 15 February 2022 New South Wales: *

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

* Coffs Harbour *

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Port Macquarie Port Macquarie is a coastal town in the local government area of Port Macquarie-Hastings. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. The town is located on the Tasman Sea c ...

* Tamworth Queensland: * Bundaberg * Cairns * Gladstone *

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airpor ...

* Rockhampton * Sunshine Coast - Headquarters and Base *

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 ...

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

* Whitsunday Coast Victoria: * Melbourne - Avalon * Melbourne - Tullamarine - Base *

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...

Fleet

Bonza will initiate services with up to five

Boeing 737 MAX 8 The Boeing 737 MAX is the fourth generation of the Boeing 737, a narrow-body airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), a division of American company Boeing. It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation (NG) and competes with th ...

aircraft in an all-economy configuration, with deliveries commencing in the second half of 2022. This will make Bonza the first Australian airline to operate the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, before

commences delivery of its Boeing 737 MAX 10 in 2023. The aircraft are leased from Bonza's majority shareholder, 777 Partners, who placed an order for 24 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in March 2021 some of which will also be allocated to Canadian-based

Flair Airlines Flair Airlines is a Canadian ultra low-cost carrier (ULCC) headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta. The airline operates scheduled passenger and chartered services with a fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft. The company slogan is ''Plane and Simple.'' The a ...

, in which 777 Partners holds a stake. Bonza received their first aircraft nicknamed 'Shazza', VH-UJT on 1 August 2022, their second 'Bazza', VH-UIK on 29 October 2022, and the third and final of the 3 initial aircraft 'Sheila', VH-UJK on 12 December 2022.

References

External links

Official website
{{Navbox Airlines of Australia, state=collapsed Airlines of Australia Airlines established in 2021 Low-cost carriers Australian companies established in 2021