Bonza airline reduces flights and cuts five routes to regional Australia

New Australian airline Bonza has announced it is cutting five routes and reducing flights due to lack of demand.

From August 1, the network of the budget airline will be reduced from 27 routes to 22.

Flights from the Sunshine Coast base to Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie and Tamworth are discontinued.

The airline, which launched in January, will also suspend flights between Cairns and Mackay, and Toowoomba and Whitsunday Coast, and reduce flight frequencies on other routes.

The cancellation of five routes serving regional Australia is a result of not enough passengers traveling to and from those destinations.

Bonza CEO Carly Povey told Daily Mail Australia that the company may revisit closed routes in the future, but in the meantime they are focused on meeting the demand that is out there.

“We are in constant discussions with airports across the country, so the door remains open,” Ms Povey said.

“We will also always respond to where demand is, such as our 22 high-performing routes where 186 seats are consistently full, such as Sunshine Coast to Albury and Avalon.”

In May, the company ruled out cutting routes that were struggling, but on Thursday the company backfliped by announcing it was “very much” about demand.

“You could say we’re taking a step back in order to take a leap forward,” Mr Povey said.

“Airlines around the world are changing their schedules a lot and for Bonza this is the first time we’re making changes to frequency and routes so we wanted to be really transparent about the changes and why we think they’re really important for customer engagement. to come. .

‘We are forced to shut down five routes for which there is currently no sustainable demand.

‘We learn quickly and look to the future. Our sole mission is to maintain a safe, sensible and sustainable airline that Aussies can enjoy and trust for years to come.”

Customers affected by the change will be contacted via SMS and will receive a full refund or alternative flights.

Those wishing to travel on the remaining 22 routes will not be able to purchase tickets until October, but Ms Povey assured customers that tickets will be on sale for the Christmas and Easter periods in the coming weeks.

The company has also experienced 10 bird strikes in 10 days.

A bird strike can ground an aircraft for several days, a serious problem for an airline with a fleet of only four aircraft.

Ever since Bonza announced its plan to operate low-cost, low-frequency flights between regional and vacation destinations, the company has continued to make waves in the aviation game.

It has cultivated a brand as the ‘bogan’ airline, offering bright purple budgerigar smugglers in its onboard shop and skipping traditional travel booking sites by selling tickets through its smartphone app.

In June, Bonza and Rex Airlines teamed up to lobby the federal government to make it easier for airlines to reach Sydney airport, which Qantas and Virgin have a stranglehold on.

The federal government says it will wait to deliver its aviation white paper next year before deciding whether to open slots at Sydney Airport.