First it was Darwin; then it was Avalon. Now Bonza is grounding flights between its recently launched third base, Gold Coast Airport, and several other destinations in its network across Queensland and Victoria.
Also on the chopping block for Australia’s newest airline are services between the Gold Coast and Bundaberg, Gladstone, Cairns, Whitsundays and Mildura.
Additionally, the airline confirmed it would be cancelling further flights this week on other routes.
Bonza CEO Tim Jordan flagged that the carrier needed to hire more staff for its new base.
“As we’ve previously shared, in the short term we will use an aircraft leased from our partner Flair at our Gold Coast base whilst we recruit Aussie crew for this third base,” Jordan said in a statement.
“This arrangement brings with it a separate regulatory approval process. That process is progressing but is not yet complete and, as a result, we’ve had to make the regrettable decision to defer flights to/from Gold Coast to Darwin, Bundaberg, Gladstone, Avalon, Cairns, Whitsundays and Mildura and are also making some additional cancellations for this week to other routes.”
Whilst remaining “very committed” to serving these markets, Jordan said “the new start date for the impacted routes is currently being worked through”.
“At this point our priority is to inform our impacted customers as efficiently as possible so that they can make alternative arrangements,” Jordan stated.
“Customers will be contacted by us in date order (based on their date of travel) and will be automatically offered a full refund.
“We are acutely aware of the impact this has on our customers and we are very sorry for this.”
Bonza rival helps out
Meanwhile, rival low-cost carrier Jetstar is offering special fares for travellers hit by Gold Coast-Avalon and Gold Coast-Cairns cancellations.
For passengers who have received notification their Bonza flight has been cancelled, Jetstar said it would offer $117 one-way fares between the Gold Coast and Avalon and $174 one-way fares between the Gold Coast and Darwin until 31 December 2023.
The special fares can be accessed via Live Chat with a copy of the original Bonza booking.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and advise if there are additional alternative options for passengers impacted by other Bonza route suspensions,” Jetstar said in a statement.
Jordan said 439 Avalon customers had been offered a full refund, the Geelong Advertiser reported.
Bonza announced its services to the Northern Territory in mid-September. At the time, it said its NT flights would boost domestic tourism, adding 116,000-plus seats per year to the Top End and Red Centre.
NT flights still coming
The cancellation of GC-Avalon services comes days after Bonza said it would be cancelling GC-Darwin flights for all of December – an announcement made just hours before the service was due to take off.
According to the ABC, the airline said around 1,600 customers were impacted by the changes, of which 1,100 have been offered flights to the Sunshine Coast as an alternative.
The carrier says its Darwin-Gold Coast service will commence on 2 January 2024.
Elsewhere, Bonza cancelled some of its GC-Albury flights this week, leaving more passengers in the lurch, The Border Mail reported.
The Albury cancellations come just two weeks after Bonza launched flights between the NSW city and the Gold Coast.
Bonza revealed Gold Coast Airport as its third airline hub and second base in Queensland in August. At the time, the airline said two aircraft would operate flights to 11 existing network destinations from November 2023 in time for the summer holidays.
Bonza continues to operate some flights out of the Gold Coast, such as services to Townsville.
