More than a year since announcing it would enter the skies, Australia’s new budget carrier, Bonza officially launched on Tuesday.Flight AB777 departed the Sunshine Coast shortly after 8am bound for Proserpine – a packed flight with 161 passengers onboard.

The inaugural flight was something very special. Onboard, members of the media, local food and drink partners, industry experts and of course, eager travellers keen to soak up the sun on the Whitsundays, sat on the purple seats inside the Boeing 737 MAX, nicknamed Bazza. 

There was a hype of activity not just onboard but also at the terminals of both Sunshine Coast Airport, airport CEO Andrew Brodie labelling Bonza’s launch as a ‘game changer for the region.’

“We will connect more people to more destinations than ever before.” Brodie said.

Bonza initially hoped to commence operations by September last year, but a delay in receiving its operators certificate from government regulators meant its official launch was pushed back until now. Bonza was granted its Air Operator Certificate by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) on January 12.

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The airline will soon launch its Melbourne base ‘in the coming weeks’ with CEO Tim Jordan confirming there are no plans to expand into Sydney, due to high fees at Sydney airport which will inevitably push up airfares – something the airline has stood firm on not doing. 

“2023 is the Year for Allstralia, with low cost air travel to many holiday spots, some of which are relatively undiscovered. It’s time to see more of your own backyard for less,” said Carly Povey, Chief Commercial Officer at Bonza.

As part of a phased rollout of flight releases, tickets departing from Bonza’s second hub at Melbourne Airport will go on sale “in a matter of weeks”, the airline said in a statement. Bonza has one mission – to make flights as affordable as possible and ‘keep costs low’ a statement constantly echoed by Chief Commercial Officer Carly Povey.

The budget carrier’s arrival is also expected to cause steeper competition within the airline industry, and CEO Tim Jordan says he would expect competing airlines to start dropping prices. Jordan squashed any expectations of a frequent flyer programme, highlighting that such schemes cost money that in the long term, would see ticket prices rise. 

“Some of those bells and whistles that are associated with business carriers, that’s not for us,” he said. “If anything adds cost to our business, that’s somebody’s airfare going up – we don’t want to do that.”

Bonza’s entry into the market makes the carrier the first new airline to launch in 15 years and comes at a time when the embattled aviation industry continues to bounce back from a shutdown caused by COVID-19. 

Industry experts say Bonza could become the next Tigerair of Australia, after the Virgin Australia subsidiary ceased trading in March 2020, leaving Jetstar as the only other low-cost airline in the country. 

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