The CEO of Bonza says the low-cost carrier is bringing “positive change” to the domestic aviation industry, but the airline has endured some turbulence in its inaugural year.
The prominent fleet of purple planes, which was granted permission to fly in mid-January last year, has delivered more than 650,000 customers to 21 destinations.
The Sunshine Coast-based airline is having a half-price sale for selected flights to mark the one-year milestone.
It issued a media release last month, highlighting its journey so far and promising much more.
“It’s been a big year and we’re just getting started,” Bonza CEO Tim Jordan said.
“Travellers have embraced our mission, to connect more Aussies to their own backyard than ever before, as their own.”
But there’s been some bumps along the way, with routes and flights scrapped, including the recent cancellation of flights between the Gold Coast and Darwin until mid-March.
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However, Bonza navigated its way through 2023 with significant reach.
The airline, which exudes ‘Aussie’ character with the names of its planes and its promotional material, launched its first passenger flight in late January 2023.
Mr Jordan said the carrier had since provided plenty of opportunities for travellers to spread their wings.
“The stories that have resonated with me most have been of the countless families and friends reuniting more often and first-time fliers seeking adventures in new destinations, because that is in Bonza’s DNA,” Mr Jordan said.
“More than 1.5 million Aussies have downloaded the Fly Bonza app, showing that Aussies are embracing a new way of travelling with our app-first approach as we revolutionise domestic travel.
“We know we are in a ‘Shazza’ versus Goliath battle, versus the effective duopoly (Qantas and Virgin), but Australians are appreciating the positive change that we are bringing.”
Mr Jordan said Bonza ensured travellers could make considerable savings on their air travel plans, while cost-of-living prices soared.
“For example, based on airfares in 2022/23 from our Melbourne-based routes, we saved customers more than $400 per round trip, which equates to a saving of over $100 million for Australians in year one: this is being referred to as the Bonza Effect,” he said.
“Our airfares, which start from $49 per person one way, are forcing competitors to lower their prices, which is a win for domestic aviation and for Aussies travelling across our beautiful backyard.”
According to the Australian Airports Association, on the four days a week that Bonza flies from Melbourne to the Gold Coast, Virgin slashed its fares by 54 per cent.
Mr Jordan said Bonza’s unique onboard experience – from its gender-neutral ‘wear-it-your-way’ uniform and ability to order on-demand menu items from the Fly Bonza app and have them delivered directly to your seats – was a success, introducing customers to undiscovered homegrown food and drinks suppliers.
“The feedback we have received about our onboard experience has been extraordinary and key to that success are our cabin crew legends,” he said.
“We love supporting Australian-owned businesses and it seems so do our customers with everything on our all-Aussie menu, from craft beer to snags and banana bread waffles selling fast and often.
“We look forward to delivering more game-changing positive effects to the domestic aviation market as we grow further in 2024.”
But it hasn’t been all smooth flying for Bonza.
It cancelled five routes in July and announced some routes would be reduced to one flight per week.
Then-chief commercial officer Carly Povey apologised and said they felt compelled to take out the routes where there was relatively low demand.
“We’re going where the demand is and, in turn, setting Bonza up for the long haul,” she said at the time.
The airline cancelled a series of flights to and from the Gold Coast later in the year and recently abandoned flights between the Gold Coast and Darwin until mid-March.
Bonza acknowledged, via social media in late December, that there were some hiccups in 2023 and improvements could be made.
“We’re taking time to reflect and learn so that we can do better and deliver,” it read.
“As a growing airline, we’ve faced challenges along the way.
“We’re having a right go at giving Aussies more options for air travel and bringing equal access through lower fares to more destinations around the country.
“We’re proud to be painting the skies purple and are grateful for your understanding and support as we focus our attention on unserved or underserved markets with a unique approach to aviation that delivers low cost non-stop flights.”
Mr Jordan said it was a “difficult decision” to defer the start of flights between the Gold Coast and Darwin.
“We want to be certain that we can provide a service that is reliable and to a standard that we’re proud of,” he said.
“This means that we will start servicing the route on March 19 and those customers who have booked flights between January 2 to March 18 will be eligible for a full refund or a transfer to/from the Darwin-Sunshine Coast route.
“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.
“We remain committed to delivering affordable flights between the Gold Coast and Darwin that will boost domestic tourism and give customers the opportunity to experience the best that both these popular destinations have to offer.
“We’ve seen a really encouraging response to the service to/from Darwin-Sunshine Coast and we’re grateful to the local communities for supporting these routes.”
Bonza received approval to operate from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority one year ago.
To mark the occasion, the airline launched a four-day sale from Monday, January 8, to Thursday, January 11, for travel between February 6 to March 6, March 13 to March 27, April 28 to June 19, and from July 16 to September 12, with the promo code THUMBSUP.
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