Bonza CEO talks taking on the establishment, 1 year on

Australian Aviation catches up with Bonza CEO Tim Jordan a year on from the airline’s first flight to find out how it’s going – and where it’s headed next.

After months of regulatory delays and anticipation, Australia’s newest low-cost airline Bonza finally got wheels up on its inaugural flight on 31 January, 2023. Its goal: to shake up the local aviation sector by offering “point-to-point” services connecting various regional and holiday destinations directly to each other while largely eschewing traditional routes between the big capital-city hubs like Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. It was a model few thought would succeed, with the major airlines largely pooh-poohing Bonza’s ambitions – former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, Virgin CEO Jayne Hrdlicka, and Rex deputy chairman John Sharp doubting the upstart carrier would make it very far.

Now, a year on from its operational launch, the carrier has three bases at the Sunshine Coast, Melbourne and the Gold Coast, with 38 routes to 21 destinations around the country – 84 per cent of which aren’t served by any other carrier, with 89 per cent not served by any other low-cost airline. In its first year, its fleet of six 737 MAX 8 aircraft – two wet-leased from its Canadian sister airline Flair – carried more than 750,000 customers, with peak capacity topping 90 per cent on some routes.