Tomorrow January 31st marks a major milestone in Australian aviation as new budget airline Bonza begins its inaugural operations down under with the airline’s first flight set to take off from its Sunshine Coast Airport Base at 8am bound for Proserpine- Whitsunday Coast landing at 9.35am. Whilst tomorrow’s flight is expected to attract much fan fare and the press expect Bonza’s current routes now on sale to progressively start over the next few weeks.
What is the Bonza Business Model and who will its main competition be?
Bonza appears to be implementing a rather unique business model focusing on the low cost model whilst at the same time focusing on direct flights between regional destinations. Most of the new routes on sales are currently not serviced by any airline with many of the airports to be served by Bonza traditionally only been previously reached by pricier full service or regional airlines. This means whilst the cost operating model of Bonza might be similar to Jetstar in terms of unbundled approach to flight inclusions it will be rarely competing with Jetstar or any airline for that matter on the majority of the routes.
Bonza is a low cost airline offering an ‘unbundled approach’ with flights only directly bookable through an App
Passengers flying Bonza in an Australian first will be required to book through the airline’s dedicated app or a travel agent and in line with keeping costs low will forgo the opportunity to book through a traditional website or over the phone. Also keeping in tune with the low cost model, passengers are expected to be treated to a completely ‘unbundled’ experience with the base level fares been exclusive of things such as complementary baggage allowance, seat selection or food and beveridge. This is not necessarily a bad thing as many would say why pay for something you don’t need!
The current and full list of Bonza flights on sale now
- Sunshine Coast to Coffs Harbour from $49 each way
- Sunshine Coast to Rockhampton from $49 each way
- Sunshine Coast to Port Macquarie from $49 each way
- Townsville to Rockhampton from $49 each way
- Cairns to Mackay from $49 each way
- Sunshine Coast to Mackay from $59 each way
- Sunshine Coast to Newcastle from $59 each way
- Sunshine Coast to Whitsunday Coast from $59 each way
- Cairns to Rockhampton from $59 each way
- Sunshine Coast to Townsville from $69 each way
- Sunshine Coast to Albury from $69 each way
- Sunshine Coast to Cairns from $79 each way
- Sunshine Coast to Mildura from $79 each way
- Whitsundays to Newcastle from $79 each way
- Sunshine Coast to Melbourne (Avalon) from $79 each way
- Sunshine Coast to Cairns from $80 each way
Flights from Melbourne base to take a little longer to go on sale
Flights from Bonza’s second to be established based of Melbourne are yet however to go on sale with those eagerly refreshing the Bonza App in anticipation likely to have to wait another week or two. Once they go on sale flights will be available between Melbourne and Bundaberg, Gladstone, Mackay, Mildura, Port Macquarie, Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast, Tamworth and Toowoomba. Additionally whilst Brisbane Won’t be serviced directly by Bonza the inland city of Toowoomba, 125km west of the Queensland capital will also host flights to Townsville and Whitsunday Coast. Lastly for now, Tamworth is also expected to be linked to the Sunshine Coast
Small fleet means limited frequencies
Bonza currently only have currently received 3 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in its fleet with a further 8 on order. This means at least in in interim whilst the airline will be launching with an impressive 17 destinations this means with such a wide range network with so few planes don’t expect massive frequencies on each of the routes offered. In fact not even one of the airlines launch routes will have daily flights with each route only to have between 2 and 5 weekly services. This means you might have to carefully plan your holiday and accommodation arrangements carefully around Bonza’s flight schedule.
Summing up
It’s certainly going to be an exciting few weeks ahead in Australian aviation with Bonza taking to the skies for the first time. The airline promises to bring its unique operating model to Australian consumers and connecting many regional destinations together for the first time at very affordable prices. Time will tell however if this uniquely placed airline entering the Australian market will be a success but we certainly wish it well as more competition and more routes is certainly a great thing for the Australian consumer!
