Summary
- Bonza has released its summer schedule with flights to and from the Gold Coast now available for booking.
- The airline can be wet leasing aircraft from Flair Airlines to begin its operations on the Gold Coast Airport.
- Bonza now has a network of 17 destinations with 33 routes and three bases.
Just a number of days after announcing it was establishing a 3rd base, Bonza has released its summer schedule, with bookings now open on the Fly Bonza app. While Bonza is quick to indicate this isn’t a one-off sale, some real bargains can be found, particularly now that flights to and from the Gold Coast are on offer.
Photo: Michael Doran | Easy Flying
On Monday, Bonza announced it was establishing an operational base on the Gold Coast Airport (OOL) in time for the summer holiday season when so many Australians flock to the Queensland tourist mecca.
The Gold Coast for Christmas with Bonza
To get the bottom up and running, Bonza said it might initially be wet leasing aircraft. Yesterday, CEO Tim Jordan confirmed to Easy Flying that these aircraft are coming from fellow 777 Partners carrier Flair Airlines.
“Two aircraft can be temporarily sourced from Flair in Canada and can be used whilst the airline commences its recruitment pipeline on the Gold Coast to support future operations and growth.”
Photo: via Bonza.
The Gold Coast flights are set to progressively start from November, and today Bonza announced summer bookings across the expanded network at the moment are open on the Fly Bonza app. The brand new schedule includes the updates announced on July thirteenth, so 33 routes to 17 destinations at the moment are available for booking.
Chief Business Officer Carly Povey said that Bonza is actually proud to be playing an element in a really positive message for aviation and tourism in Australia, adding:
“We predict we’re giving people a chance to travel, including in peak periods once they never could before, so that they can get out and see more of their very own backyard at a time when many Aussies are doing it tough. That is about connecting people at a time once they actually need to see families and family members so we’re really delighted that we can be playing a job in that.”
Quite a bit to select from in only six months
With the Gold Coast already a popular summer destination for 1000’s of Australians, not to say Schoolies, many will head straight to those flights. They are going to find that Bonza has eleven destinations with nonstop flights to and from the Gold Coast, with frequencies from two to 5 flights weekly.
There are flights from each Melbourne Tullamarine and Melbourne Avalon Airports, together with services to the Gold Coast from Mildura, Albury and 7 regional cities in Queensland.
Map: Bonza
In six months and with 4 Boeing 737 MAX 8s Bonza has gone from no flights to the brand new network of 17 destinations with 33 routes and three aircraft and crew bases. Last month’s schedule revamp has freed up aircraft capability reminiscent of having a spare aircraft should anything unexpected disrupt services, providing more certainty for the busy times ahead.
Greater than 1.25 million people have now downloaded the Fly Bonza app, and nearly 400,000 customers have booked their Bonza flights using the app. Depending on the flight length, one-way tickets range from AU$49 to $89 ($32 – $58), with a two-hour flight from Melbourne starting at AU$79 ($52).