Budget airline throws Christmas travel plans into chaos after cancelling flights between two Australian cities for all of December

Christmas travel plans for thousands of holidaymakers have been thrown into chaos after a budget airline canceled flights between two major Australian cities.

Australia's newest low-cost airline, Bonza, has canceled flights between Darwin and the Gold Coast for the entire month of December, it was announced on Thursday.

The airline's first flight between the two cities was due to depart last week, but the airline blames 'regulatory approval processes' for the problem.

The announcement has thrown Christmas travel plans into disarray, with around 1,600 customers affected by the cancellations.

The airline said about 1,100 customers have now been offered flights to Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

Bonza CEO Tim Jordan said in a statement that flights to the Gold Coast will now be operated by their Canadian counterparts Flair, as the budget airline continues to hire more staff.

“As we have previously shared, we will be operating an aircraft leased from our partner Flair at our Gold Coast base in the near term while we recruit Australian crew members for this third base,” Mr Jordan said.

'This arrangement involves a separate approval process. That process is progressing but not yet complete and as a result we have had to make the regrettable decision to postpone a number of flights between Gold Coast and Darwin in the coming weeks.”

'We are acutely aware of the impact this has on our customers and deeply regret this.'

Mr Jordan said the airline is working with customers affected by the cancellation and will offer a full refund to those who are now unable to travel due to the cancellation.

“Our priority at this time is to assist our affected customers as efficiently as possible so that they can make alternative arrangements,” Mr Jordan said.

Airline CEO Tim Jordan blamed the cancellation on 'regulatory approval processes'

Bonza announced the Darwin to Gold Coast route in September, along with two other itineraries between Darwin and the Sunshine Coast and Alice Springs to Melbourne.

Flights between Darwin and the Gold Coast were due to begin in late November.

The canceled flights have disrupted the travel plans of Australians like father-of-three Corey Reichstein after he saved up to take his family to the Gold Coast for their first holiday in five years.

“We spent almost all our savings trying to get the money together to fly the kids to the Gold Coast and the theme parks,” Reichstein told the ABC.

“Yesterday (Thursday) we received an email from Bonza explaining that they could not actually fly us to the Gold Coast.”

The flights were due to fly from Darwin to the Gold Coast (pictured), with many Australians now forced to make alternative travel plans

The airline said about 1,100 customers have been offered flights to Queensland's Sunshine Coast (pictured) instead

The airline said flights between the Gold Coast and Darwin would resume in January 2024.

Bonza entered the Australian aviation market in January 2023 as 'Australia's new and only independent low-cost airline'.

The airline operates several flights to multiple interstate destinations, including NSW and Victoria.