Bonza airline has canceled all flights between Darwin and the Gold Coast for the next three months.
Customers who had booked flights on the route from January 2, 2024 to March 18, 2024 received text messages on Thursday saying their flights had been cancelled.
The latest announcement came less than a month after the budget airline said its flights to Darwin-Gold Coast had been canceled for the whole of December.
Customers were told the reason for the extended cancellation was “due to a delay in obtaining regulatory approval.”
Bonza said affected customers could receive a full refund or a transfer to/from the Darwin-Sunshine Coast route.
Customers who booked Bonza flights on the Darwin-Gold Coast route from January 2, 2024 to March 18, 2024 received text messages on Thursday informing them that their flights had been canceled
Bonza said customers with flights booked during the period could receive a full refund or a transfer to/from the Darwin-Sunshine Coast route
Bonza chief executive Tim Jordan said the decision to delay the start of flights between Darwin and Gold Coast had been a difficult one.
“We want to make sure we can deliver a service that is reliable and at a level that we are proud of,” he said.
“Operating the Gold Coast-Darwin route before March would put pressure on our current capacity.
“We owe it to our customers and our Bonza Legends to learn from our past missteps by taking action so we can provide reliable, low-cost air travel.”
Mr Jordan added that customers do not need to contact the airline about refunds or transfers as their team has already contacted them.
When Bonza canceled flights in December, the company said it was due to a delay in Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) approval to use two aircraft and crew from Canadian sister airline Flair.
Approval for two additional aircraft was granted on December 19 and Bonza announced discounted flights to and from the Gold Coast.
“This is our way of acknowledging that we could have done better and at the same time shouting from the rooftops that Bonza is back!” That's what Mr. Jordan said at the time.
“Now that we have approval for the two additional aircraft, we are scaling up our operations and operating our new routes from our Gold Coast base,” he said.
Bonza had promised to provide two return services each week between the in-demand Gold Coast-Darwin route
Bonza had promised to provide two return services each week between the in-demand Gold Coast-Darwin route.
Mr Jordan said the airline remained committed to offering affordable Darwin to Gold Coast flights.
'[It] will boost domestic tourism and give customers the opportunity to experience the best that both these popular destinations have to offer,” he said.
“We have seen a very encouraging response to the service to/from Darwin – Sunshine Coast and we are grateful to local communities for their support of these routes.”