BONZA
 

Are these people serious? A new Australian LCC using Max 8s (when unclaimed Max aircraft are no longer piling up in Seattle)???

The supplied pic looks like a Max 9 or 10, with the extra exit.

https://www.executivetraveller.com/n...boeing-737-max

Yes they are and why not.Looks like they have the financial backing.:)

The airline has the backing of US private investment firm 777 Partners, which announced in March the addition of 24 737-8s to the firm’s aviation portfolio, with purchase rights for an additional 60 aircraft.

The Miami-based company said it would place the single-aisle planes with its “growing portfolio of low-cost carrier investments around the world”, so you can only assume some of them will be for Bonza.

Any Maxes ordered in March would have been cheap, so they have that going for them.

Imagine what they would have to pay. to get access to Australia's only 737 Max simulator!

Otherwise it's off to Nadi or Singapore.

They obviously didn’t spent much on marketing did they when they came up with a name like “ Bonza “ . They could have paid me and I could have suggested , Ripper , Grouse or even s**t yeh .

I've heard Gold Coast base to start.

Good luck to them but there aren't many markets that aren't currently served (or have been served prior to the recent lockdowns) by one of the other carriers. Especially in the 737-size markets.

Reported they held talks with Justin Giddings CEO of Avalon Airport as well.

They have stated they are not interested in playing in the Golden Triangle.

Name.
 

Or “Straya Airlines” that’d get around the copyright issues and would suit the low cost market.

Bonza is the name of a new start-up in Australia, and is set to become the country's first independent low-cost airline. The start-up plans to launch flights early next year and will, initially, only fly domestic.

The airline is founded by a former executive of Cebu Pacific and Virgin Austrlia and is backed by private investment firm 777 Partners, which also has investments in Canadian low-cost carrier Flair Airlines and the Value Alliance, a network of low-cost Asian airlines consisting of Cebu Pacific, Jeju Air, Nok Air and Scoot.

Bonza is planning to operate the B737-8, of which 777 Partners has so far ordered 32 with Boeing directly, and which will go to both Flair and Bonza.

Where did you get that info from as it’s wrong, it’s the 737 MAX 8 they plan to operate and they ordered 24 + 60 options

Bonza should do okay in the domestic market if it's a cheap airline who can weather whatever storms are heading our way... another lockdown, more closed borders, high inflation, etc...

You can't register colloquial or phonetic business names like 'Straya' - it isn't allowed.

No problems registering Straya under the law, you just need to prove it won’t be confused with the other 70 names registered with Straya in them

Bonza to hugely expand its 737 fleet to match Rex

https://australianaviation.com.au/20...-to-match-rex/

CH 9 advertising some announcements tomorrow on the Today show.

https://australianaviation.com.au/20...-destinations/

12 routes out of MCY

Not one route has a daily frequency, and most if not all destinations lack enough flights to justify anything but a casual workforce.

Your points are all very appropriate and open to debate . I’ve been around a long time , I’ve seen this type of operation come and go over the years , both in Australia and overseas . I wish them all the best and look forward to reviewing their viability in a years time , unless of course they are just another “ come and gone “ airline by that time .

Dave C

Also some interesting route choices.. MQL MCY? While MQL has seen VA 738s, that was to MEL .. could a MAX with pax/fuel even take off on MQL's 1800m runway?

I would imagine a MAX would have no problems at all with MQL 1800M runway . QF operate the 737-800 off HTI with its 1750M runway to MEL , which is considerably farther in distance than MQL- MCY .

Dave C

738 only needs 4000ft at minimums, MQLs 6000ft would limit MTOW to 150000lbs on a 30 degree day at sea level

Doing a bit of mental arithmetic, it’s MTOW would about 32000 lbs under its max allowable MTOW of 182000lbs . Assuming that 32000lbs is fuel , that would leave about 6 tonnes of fuel after conversion to kg as it’s fuel upload , which would give it about 2’5 hrs of flying time or 1200 NM . I’m not a pilot , and not sure if any of this is indeed logical , but I had some fun trying to work it out . Cheers one and all .

Dave C

More questions about their plans https://www.linkedin.com/posts/drton...51891456-iMs3/

Groundhog Day….???

You clearly did more than what I did, which was look at the specs of the MAX/NG on Wiki ;)

I’ve clearly got too much time on my hands ��.

Dave C

Plane spotters are reporting first aircraft is ex LOT MSN60388 SP-LVE that was never taken up

Thanks Mark

Bonza has reportedly taken up 8 x Maxs that were initially destined for LOT.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/thegre...s/52153958373/

Note: The BONZA rudder.

Reportedly stored at VCV, paint stripped at VCV and flown back to BFI yesterday

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N5515X

737-8 MAX, Bonza, , N5515X (MSN 60388/7591)
ff 7/6/19

Wonder if they'll be able to take up CASA's new registration format ie VH-B01

What a BONZA idea (Had to do it)

No 2 is out of the paint shop, looks like VH-UJT will be her rego

https://twitter.com/bfi_watch_ca350/...933377/photo/1

This is the first Max mentioned earlier

737-8 MAX, Bonza, , N5515X (MSN 60388/7591)

If you zoom the image the rego is N5515X with ULT on the nosewheel door.

The second for Bonzo is reportedly

737-8 MAX, Bonza, , N1786B/SP-LVO (MSN 62533/7722)

This is the second Greg with UJT written on the gear door, not ULT, ln7591 is a different aircraft currently in rework , N5515X is assigned to numerous aircraft and hasn’t flown since Jun30, and as tweeted “ SPOTTED* future VH-UJT — the very first fully painted Bonza 737-8! Both this guy and the one I posted a couple weeks ago are registered N5515X, but the bare metal one (still sitting here at BFI) is former SP-LVE, while this one is former SP-LVO. What a beaut!”

https://twitter.com/thegreatplanes/s...29814615339009

LN 7722 May well end up being first in due course as they don’t seem to by in a hurry with LN7591 now it has issues.

Gents, these appear to be the 8 for Bonza, all for LOT ntu, 7 with LOT regos allocated, 1 not. Note all the N1786B's.

SN43957 - LN7888 LOT - SP-blank - N1781B
SN43973 - LN7471 LOT - SP-LVG - N1786B
SN43974 - LN7551 LOT - SP-LVI - N1787B
SN43975 - LN7516 LOT - SP-LVH - N1786B
SN60388 - LN7591 LOT - SP-LVE - N5515X
SN61862 - LN7737 LOT - SP-LVN - N1786B
SN61864 - LN7773 LOT - SP-LVP - N1786B
SN62533 - LN7722 LOT -SP-LVO - N1786B

I will be corrected if something is wrong

Boeing test regos can appear on multiple aircraft at the same time, N1786B has the current record I believe of being on 19 aircraft at the same time

All will be revealed when they are added to the VH Reg.

Now wearing Aus rego

https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/10638442

De-LOT'd the winglets too.

I think the “ B “ in Bonza on the fuselage logo looks a lot like the Ryanair Harp . Am I alone I thinking this ?
Dave C

Just went down to the winglet shop and asked for a return - change of mind

https://www.instagram.com/p/CgPEZw4F..._web_copy_link

UJT has been added to the VH-Reg!

UJT THE BOEING COMPANY 737-8 62533 21/07/2022 ADD JWARP LLC 600 Brickwell Ave MIAMI FLORIDA 33131 United States of America BONZA AVIATION PTY LTD

Edit: I think that this is also the first MAX on the VH-Reg.

Second MAX, fresh from the paint shop.
Interestingly, Winglet-less
https://twitter.com/bfi_watch_ca350/...Rd-7ZWVPg4YH6g

Bonza's 3rd MAX8 is SN43975 - LN7516 LOT - SP-LVH - N1786B

Ferried VCV to BFI for winglets and customer acceptance testing

So Far:

1. SN60388 - LN7591 LOT - SP-LVE - N5515X Ferried VCV to BFI (no paint)
2. SN62533 - LN7722 LOT -SP-LVO - N1786B VH-UJT
3. SN43975 - LN7516 LOT - SP-LVH - N1786B to be VH-UIK