BONZA

[David C]

Bonza has now entered into voluntary administration .

[Robbie J]

Originally Posted by David C

Bonza has now entered into voluntary administration .

Yes, and its on the Nightly News right now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT7c6LnRUqY

[Laurent Sanhard]

Question is , were they killed off by Qantas / Jetstar / Virgin

Or was there route selection problematic , ie servicing many of the regional towns where it would be harder to get full pax loads ?

Full credit to them for trying but the 3rd low cost airline competitor rarely survives in the tough Aussie airline market dominated by the big 2.

Maybe smaller aircraft like A318 / A319 might have suited them better for the regional routes ?

Though I understand their overseas partner uses the 737

[Greg Hyde]

Bonza Fleet Locations (01/05)

MEL VH-UIK
MCY C-FLHI, VH-UJT & VH-UKH
OOL VH-UJK

Note: C-FLHI test flown as Flair FLE903P on 29/04

[Rowan McKeever]

Originally Posted by Laurent Sanhard

Question is , were they killed off by Qantas / Jetstar / Virgin

Or was there route selection problematic , ie servicing many of the regional towns where it would be harder to get full pax loads ?

Full credit to them for trying but the 3rd low cost airline competitor rarely survives in the tough Aussie airline market dominated by the big 2.

Maybe smaller aircraft like A318 / A319 might have suited them better for the regional routes ?

Though I understand their overseas partner uses the 737

The A318/A319 (and likewise the B737-600/-700/-7) have the issue of being relatively very heavy for their pax count, making them comparatively more expensive to operate. Bonza already said most routes needed a load factor >80% to break even with the -8, so using the smaller variants would've likely required closer to 90-100% loads which would've diluted yields even further.

Apart from the -8 being far too big for almost all of the AB route network, they were also obviously practically brand new aircraft so the cost of acquisition is very high. AB would've been better advised to start up with older aircraft like the E-Jet or CRJ, perhaps some low-cycle B717s, for which acquisition would be relatively cheap or purchase prices low enough for AB to own and almost immediately depreciate their fleet.

[Robert.M]

Originally Posted by David C

I’d love them to survive too , but I somehow doubt that very much . The route network may work with much smaller , more economical aircraft , but whoever thought 737MAX aircraft were the best choice for its route network were kidding themselves . I feel for the employees , the ones who have done the hard yards to be left unemployed now .

JetGo used E135/140/145 to some of the same ports as Bonza.

Looking at making a rather expensive trip to the Sunshine Coast over the weekend and hope to get a photo of the three aircraft, assuming they don’t fly them out before then.

[MarkR]

The MCY birds have had obstacles placed in their way to prevent movement.

[MarkR]

A sad sight

https://ibb.co/ZBpzJFy
https://ibb.co/F8ch4yL

[Robert.M]

Very sad! How easy is it to photograph the aircraft from the civil side (not airside)?

[MarkR]

Originally Posted by Robert.M

Very sad! How easy is it to photograph the aircraft from the civil side (not airside)?

Very easy, I was in the staff car park!