Budget airline Bonza launched in a blaze of purple glory but struggled to find its footing in the n market a year on from its launch.
The airline entered voluntary administration on Tuesday after suddenly cancelling all of its flights and leaving hundreds of travelers stranded.
Since takeoff, the airline has been beset with a raft of problems, from flight and route cancellations, last-minute schedule changes, and a delayed launch.
Daily Mail has compiled a timeline of the airline tracking Bonza from its rocky start right up to its crashing end.
Embattled airline Bonza has yet again cancelled flights along a flightpath across December, with flights between Avalon and Gold Coast airports grounded indefinitely (stock image)
Bonza flights across the country were cancelled on Tuesday
January 2023
Bonza launches several months after it was initially meant to start flying.
The airline blamed the change on several delays including aircraft delivery and regulatory approvals.
The news was a blow to millions of Aussies and a bad look for the airline’s founder – former Virgin Blue executive Tim Jordan.
July 2023
Bonza announces it is cancelling five routes, including from the Sunshine Coast to Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and Tamworth.
The airline also cancelled Cairns to Mackay, and Toowoomba to the Whitsundays, and reduced the frequency of some of its services.
Bonza chief commercial officer Carly Povey admitted ns would be disappointed at the time.
‘We also know that in the past couple of months, not everyone has had a good experience with Bonza and we need to stare directly into why that is, specifically when we cancel or delay flights,’ she said.
November 2023
Bonza is slammed for flying in crew and pilots form Canada to operate its services in .
The decision flew in the face of its marketing campaign after the airline boasted its desire to be an n-first company.
Bonza had gloated about its ‘all Aussie’ in-flight menu as ‘100 per cent sourced locally’ and named some of its aircraft ‘Bazza’, ‘Shazza’ and ‘Sheila’.
There was a mid-air drama when Bonza cabin crew members were injured after their plane suffered mid-air turbulence during a regional Queensland flight.
Flight AB626 was travelling from Rockhampton to the Sunshine Coast when trouble struck.
The aircraft safely landed at its destination without further incident.
Bonza celebrated its first flight into Darwin in November, while cancelling the second and subsequent flights.
December 2023
Bonza ruined Christmas plans for hundreds of passengers by cancelling flights between Darwin and the Gold Coast for the entirety of December.
A Bonza jet sat idle on the tarmac because its Canadian crew didn’t have Civil Aviation Safety Authority approval.
Meanwhile, a Bonza-branded jet operated across Canada for partner airline Flair.
The grounding of Bonza flights has left passengers scrambling to find alternative travel plans
April 2024
Budget airline Bonza collapsed into voluntary administration on Tuesday, with its leased planes repossessed and all schedule flights cancelled.
Travellers were left stranded in airports across on Tuesday morning as the carrier paused all its flights to hold urgent talks on the airline’s viability.
Accountants and business advisors Hall Chadwick are understood to have since been appointed as administrators.
Bonza CEO Tim Jordan said in a statement earlier on Tuesday that he apologised to affected customers and insisted that the suspension of its services was temporary.
The carrier launched in 2023 with the backing of American private investment firm 777 Partners.
An internal memo leaked on Tuesday reveals the reason for the sudden grounding of the airline’s flights.
‘We have been informed this morning that effective 0300 today that all our aircraft have had repossession proceedings commenced by AlP the aircraft lessor,’ the note said.
‘This was a surprise to both ourselves and 777 Partners.
‘We are currently assessing all options … as a consequence of this all first wave flights from all bases have been cancelled.’