Bonza flights cancelled amid airline’s uncertain future

Bonza’s fleet was originally owned by its parent company, 777 Partners, but the private equity group’s creditors have since created a new vehicle that now owns the company’s 30 Max-8 aircraft.

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Over the past year, Bonza has been hamstrung by fleet issues, with multiple purple planes due to be used by the airline instead redirected to one of 777 Partners’ other airlines.

Bonza’s fleet of four Boeing 737 Max-8s has been struggling to service its route map and also cater to pilot training requirements. This has resulted in many frustrated customers experiencing last-minute cancellations or delays, while aspiring pilots are unable to complete their training as scheduled.

The company is the first high-capacity, low-cost carrier to launch in Australia since now-defunct Virgin subsidiary Tigerair took off 15 years ago. It has positioned itself as a leisure carrier targeting tourism destinations in regional Australia, rather than competing with Qantas or Virgin, which service high-frequency routes.

Although it is a model that has worked well across Europe and Asia, critics have expressed concern Bonza’s structure is unsustainable due to Australia’s size and small population.

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