AUSTRALIA'S NEWEST AIRLINE ANNOUNCES A BONZA ROUTE NETWORK
New Australian airline Bonza has revealed a swathe of initial routes for the start of its operations. As the first new domestic airline in Australia since Tiger Airways in 2008, all eyes are on the newcomer to see what it can bring to the market. As the first in Australia to operate the 737 MAX, this is an airline that has got the aviation world a bit excited.
All in, 25 routes are being loaded into the schedules by the newcomer. Many will connect to its home base at Sunshine Coast Airport, which will welcome two based aircraft initially, and will be the head office for the airline. It will also launch with a second base, also with two aircraft in situ, at Melbourne.
The 25 routes will touch the following destinations: Albury, Avalon, Bundaberg, Cairns, Coffs Harbour, Gladstone, Mackay, Melbourne, Mildura, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba Wellcamp, Townsville and the Whitsunday Coast. These will take care of its first five delivered aircraft.
Within its first year of operations, Bonza intends to inaugurate a total of eight aircraft. So we can expect more route announcements or capacity increases as new planes arrive. One aircraft will be permanently dedicated as a ‘spare’, allowing the airline to respond quickly to any technical issues or flight disruptions.
Bonza further gave some details on its planned business operations, which includes a completely paperless experience, with a bespoke app to book and discover flights. App users can also find opportunities to win free flights and to be the first to find out about sales and discounts.
In terms of fares, Jordan told the Sydney Morning Herald that pricing would be in line with Jetstar, and would typically be about half the price of full service airlines that are flying its planned routes.
Bonza has long purported to be ‘here for Allstralia’, and with such a burgeoning initial route map, it seems to be staying true to its word. That is, unless you live in Western Australia. Although some will lay the blame for this at the feet of continuing difficulties with travel and borders, for Bonza, it’s almost certainly about keeping the sectors short in its initial months.
For its first destinations, Bonza will not be straying far away from the east coast, with Mildura and Cairns the furthest points west in the north and south. From its base in Sunshine Coast, passengers can connect to a bunch of unserved and underserved destinations around the coast as well as inland.
Providing some competition for the one and only incumbent low-cost airline Jetstar, Bonza has picked some key destinations that are very lightly served. Of the 37 flights per week departing Sunshine Coast, 83% of the routes are brand new. 92% are not served by a low-cost airline.
Many of the target destinations have never had a direct connection at all. Whitsunday Coast, Rockhampton, Cairns, Port Macquire, Gladstone, Bundaberg, Coffs Harbour, Albury and Avolon – all services touching these airports will have zero competition at all. Of the rest, while some other airlines might provide service, none of them are low-cost.
The exception to this rule are the flights out of Melbourne, which will have 63% new routes and 88% not served by a low-cost carrier. Clearly, Bonza has been crunching some numbers in order to form this route map and has found a bunch of unserved destinations hiding among the noise.
In all, the initial routes for Bonza will see a lowcost carrier operation for the very first time on 96%. Alongside this, the overall unserved tally is 80% of routes. If this idea of flying where others don’t fly sounds familiar, it should. US-based startup Breeze Airways has based its own business plan on exactly this premise, connecting the dots where other airlines do not. Indeed, at Breeze’s own route announcement, it was revealed that 80% of its initial summer routes would have no competition.
Just seven months later, and Breeze had flown more than 330,000 passengers, despite the challenges of COVID. It is presently gearing up to introduce the Airbus A220 on its services, which will inevitably mean longer routes and new destinations added to the route map.
Breeze set the pace for two more new entrants in the US, with very similar models. Avelo and Aha! both operate under the same premise – connecting otherwise unserved routes with low fares and a-la-carte pricing for extras. Both startups are reported to be doing well in their initial months of operations.
CEO of Australian flag carrier Qantas, Alan Joyce, previously said he was not optimistic that Bonza would be able to find enough opportunities to make a viable business. Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald in December, he said,
Clearly, Bonza has indeed found the routes it needs, and this is just the start. The airline still needs its
SINCE ANNOUNCING BONZA TO THE WORLD LATE LAST YEAR, WE’VE ALWAYS SAID WE WOULDN’T JUST FLY BETWEEN AUSTRALIA’S THREE LARGEST CITIES AND INSTEAD GIVE PEOPLE IN THE REGIONS MORE CHOICE. TODAY WE DELIVER ON THAT PROMISE, WITH THE LARGEST LAUNCH ANNOUNCEMENT IN AUSTRALIAN AVIATION HISTORY.
“FROM OUR TWO BASES ON THE SUNSHINE COAST AND MELBOURNE, WE WILL GIVE AUSSIES MORE OPTIONS AT ULTRALOW FARES TO EXPLORE THEIR OWN BACKYARD. WITH DESTINATIONS RANGING FROM ALBURY TO THE WHITSUNDAYS, TRAVELLERS WILL NOW BE ABLE TO FLY, INSTEAD OF IMPOSSIBLY LONG ROAD TRIPS AS WELL AS FLY DIRECT WITHOUT A STOPOVER IN A MAJOR CITY. AUSSIES CAN LOOK FORWARD TO ENJOYING MORE TIME AT THEIR DESTINATION AND SPENDING LESS OF THEIR HARD EARNED CASH GETTING THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.”
I WOULDWOUL HAVE THOUGHT WE HAD MOST OF THEM COVERED. MAYBE WE DON’T AND THAT’S GREAT IF THEY FIND A UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION THAT THEY CAN MAKE MONEY ON.... SHAME ON US BECAUSE WE’VE MISSED IT.”
Simple Flying