Christmas has been saved for travelers who recently had their flights canceled by Australia's newest budget airline after it halted most flights for the entire month of December.
Jetstar took the opportunity to pick up customers left behind by Bonza's abrupt cancellation of flights from Darwin to major Queensland cities.
Australia's newest low-cost airline, Bonza, announced on November 30 that flights from Darwin to the Gold Coast, Bundaberg, Cairns, the Whitsundays, Mildura and Geelong in Victoria were being halted due to a delayed regulatory approval to fly.
Jetstar, the largest airline operating from Gold Coast Airport, announced on Wednesday it was offering fewer one-way flights to make up for Bonza's dire situation.
To claim the tickets, passengers must contact Jetstar's 'live chat' service and provide a copy of their original Bonza booking for a $117 one-way ticket to Melbourne's Avalon and $174 to Cairns until December 31.
Jetstar seizes opportunity to add more passengers to its flights by offering stranded Bonza customers discounted one-way tickets
Australia's newest low-budget airline canceled most flights from Darwin to Queensland and Victoria after failing to get regulatory approval to fly two of its leased planes
Hundreds of holidays were ruined by Bonza's announcement, as the airline failed to gain approval from Canadian airline Flair to operate two wet lease aircraft.
Bonza CEO Tim Jordan has since “profoundly apologized” for the airline's cancellations and warned that more flights may be canceled in the coming days.
“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 some routes to/from the Gold Coast and some additional cancellations on other routes this week.”
It is expected that as many as 1,600 passengers were affected by the cancellation, with around 1,100 customers traveling to Gold Coast having since been offered flights to the Sunshine Coast, while others were offered refunds.
Bonza CEO Tim Jordan has 'deeply apologized' for the cancellations caused by the airline's failure to gain regulatory approval to operate two of its wet lease aircraft
Many uncomfortable travelers took to social media to vent their frustrations after rescheduling at the last minute.
One person said they lost “at least $1,000 because of these clowns,” even though the price of their new ticket was much more expensive than their original fare.
'Will they reimburse us for the accommodation and transport arrangements that now have to be cancelled? I bet not!' said another.
'I now have a LOT of extra money out of my pocket because I book with other airlines at last-minute prices. If they had let me know earlier, I could have gotten cheaper replacement flights.'
Others wondered how the plane tickets could even be made available if they weren't approved.
'We booked flights with Bonza to avoid the other two biggies, but they canceled as they were not cleared to fly the route. How are they allowed to sell tickets on an unauthorized route? Australia's aviation industry is full,” said another.
Some passengers also claimed they spent hours trying to reach a customer service representative.
One customer said they spent hours trying to reach a customer service representative