Bonza Airline Discussion

[justinbrett]

Well- Jetstar started Ruth some nice Airbus planes rather than with a dud Boeing that should never fly again and will kill people again sooner or later, it’s just a matter of time.

And it had the financial backing of a powerful national airline behind it. I think that’s very different from that airline with what must be one of the stupidest names in airline history.

We will see. My guess, again, is that they’re gone in a year max.

Yeah, as @HS-TQE points out, that's just not true, they launched with very old 717s.

I was on the launch flight for SYD-HVB. I sat next to a JQ executive on the flight and it was making notes of the defects, like seats in the exit row reclining when they shouldn't be able to. I'm fairly certain it was the original seats with that old-cinema scratchy blue upholstery. The 717s flying now are much nicer as all of the seats got replaced.

Same for international - they got the QF A330s until the new 787s were delivered.

Also correct me if I'm wrong, JQ didn't qualify for lounge access initially - that happened a bit later.

 

[RB]

Well- Jetstar started Ruth some nice Airbus planes rather than with a dud Boeing that should never fly again and will kill people again sooner or later, it’s just a matter of time.

And it had the financial backing of a powerful national airline behind it. I think that’s very different from that airline with what must be one of the stupidest names in airline history.

We will see. My guess, again, is that they’re gone in a year max.

I really hope they haven't hurt your feelings too much- your 2 posts on this thread today haven't been very constructive

 

[Berlin]

Jetstar started with the ex-Impulse Boeing 717s in its first few years of operation whilst waiting for the factory fresh A320s to be delivered.

The 717s were subsequently transferred to NJS (then at the time a subsidiary of Cobham) when there was enough A320s at JQ.

I did not know this, I must admit. But I wasn’t living in Australia at the time and what I very well remember from visiting here was the big ads everywhere advertising their sparkling new A320s which surprised me at the time as I had always seen the Aussie and NZ market as a mostly Beoing-focused one. This has obviously changed since then, and will even further with Qantas’ upcoming Airbus orders.

 

[Saab34]

Jetstar was gifted a fleet of 717s. Many startups don’t have that luxury!

 

[Berlin]

I really hope they haven't hurt your feelings too much- your 2 posts on this thread today haven't been very constructive

I just think the whole airline is a typical dud.

No feelings hurt at all, I’d personally try everything I can to not ever fly on the Maxmurder and wouldn’t touch Bonza even if they flew to Sydney.

I’m usually very happy and with all my feelings fine in my Qantas Business class seat so Bonza doesn't even ever affect me personally.

 

[justinbrett]

Jetstar was gifted a fleet of 717s. Many startups don’t have that luxury!

It wasn't the gifting of the 717s that was the biggest help - it was the gifting of entire routes and forcing would be QF pax to fly JQ. But that led JQ growing very rapidly, to be one of the largest LCCs in the world, in a very short amount of time. Bonza is still a very small airline and nobody is saying they're going to rival JQ any time soon.

But all this gifting is a bit of a moot point - how much good money was thrown at VA1 to still make a mess of it? Yes you need financial backing (which Bonza has), it's a workable business model that will make or break the airline.

My original point is that Bonza will adapt pretty quickly to a workable business model, as we have seen with other LCCs. The fact is the market suits a LCC right now on non-capital city routes. Their scales are so low, it doesn't take much for a route to sell out for a given week. And if they don't do well on a particular route, they'll just move that capacity to a route that is doing well. This is really just a testing the waters phase, their schedule will look very different in six months time.

 

[HS-TQE]

Also for a mainline jet operator (regardless if it's a LCC or a Full Service) to try RPT point-to-point non-hub/base routes in Australia is probably something that hadn't been tried before (outside of seasonal charters)

 

[justinbrett]

Also for a mainline jet operator (regardless if it's a LCC or a Full Service) to try RPT point-to-point non-hub/base routes in Australia is probably something that hadn't been tried before (outside of seasonal charters)

Well really they are doing a hub model, MCY and MEL, it's just that you can't book connections., So your point to point has to be to/from one of the hubs.

Which is why I think the MEL routes will do well, MCY not so much.

 

[HS-TQE]

Well really they are doing a hub model, MCY and MEL, it's just that you can't book connections., So your point to point has to be to/from one of the hubs.

Which is why I think the MEL routes will do well, MCY not so much.

TSV-ROK, CNS-MKY are point-to-point to name two examples, although those routes come from the MCY base. Early reports suggest they are doing worse than the MCY originating routes. There are also other upcoming point to point routes which will also be formed by the aircraft from the MEL base.

 

[dajop]

The fact is the market suits a LCC right now on non-capital city routes. Their scales are so low, it doesn't take much for a route to sell out for a given week. And if they don't do well on a particular route, they'll just move that capacity to a route that is doing well. This is really just a testing the waters phase, their schedule will look very different in six months time.

Agree totally.

I wouldn't be surprised, based on testing the waters, if at some point they also try to replicate the more successful destinations ex-MEL out of SYD and ex-MCY out of OOL. ( If they can get a good deal out of SYD and OOL). Good chance that if for example MEL-BDB works that SYD-BDB could as well or if ABX-MCY works then ABX-OOL might also (although perhaps there could be cannablisation ).

 

[HS-TQE]

Agree totally.

I wouldn't be surprised, based on testing the waters, if at some point they also try to replicate the more successful destinations ex-MEL out of SYD and ex-MCY out of OOL. ( If they can get a good deal out of SYD and OOL). Good chance that if for example MEL-BDB works that SYD-BDB could as well or if ABX-MCY works then ABX-OOL might also (although perhaps there could be cannablisation ).

I do recall that SYD said whilst they'll be more than happy to have Bonza, they've conceded they don't have the slots and/or subsidy package available for them to set up shop in SYD.

I'd say it's a better bet that Bonza will set up a 3rd base in PER if they are still around as an independent outfit in 18 months time.

Can Bonza bag Sydney as its next travel hub?

Tuesday's flight from the Sunshine Coast to Proserpine marked the beginning of the carrier’s Phase 1 rollout. So where is Bonza set to expand to next?

australianaviation.com.au

 

[Harrison_133]

Looks like Bonza are having a few operational challenges.

Yesterday Sheila (VH-UJK) operated the MCY-NTL-PPP v.v. pattern with 3 and 4 hour delays on all four sectors, and today operated MCY-TSV 4 hours behind schedule but has been in Townsville since arriving at 12:40pm. It is yet to complete the scheduled TSV-ROK-TSV-MCY rotations.

 

[Saab34]

That will be the issue with such a small fleet. All it takes is a birdstrike and the whole schedule is out the window for a week.

I wouldn't expect major maintenance is conducted on the Sunshine Coast. I guess the flight just gets cancelled or heavily delayed.

 

[Mattg]

That will be the issue with such a small fleet. All it takes is a birdstrike and the whole schedule is out the window for a week.

I wouldn't expect major maintenance is conducted on the Sunshine Coast. I guess the flight just gets cancelled or heavily delayed.

This is where the operational spare should come into play. Of course, it doesn't help immediately if an aircraft breaks down in TSV and the spare is at MCY.

 

[Saab34]

Mildura launches tomorrow looks fairly solid both ways, Albury later this week seat maps are sold out or very busy.

 

[dajop]

Mildura launches tomorrow looks fairly solid both ways, Albury later this week seat maps are sold out or very busy.

Although this week is not a true test ! Easter Thursday historically was one of, if not the, busiest days of the year for domestic travel.

 

[jakeseven7]

That will be the issue with such a small fleet. All it takes is a birdstrike and the whole schedule is out the window for a week.

I suspect they will just cancel their way out of it if that happened

 

[HS-TQE]

There are also some pending deliveries for Bonza that has since been diverted to help Flair in Canada due to their financial issues.

 

[Saab34]

I don’t think they have announced anything yet that is beyond the current fleet.

2 aircraft in MCY and 2 in MEL. I think they have four?

He did say 8 I think in the first year.

 

[Harrison_133]

2 aircraft in MCY and 2 in MEL. I think they have four?

2 in MCY + 1 spare, and just 1 in MEL currently. The second MEL aircraft won’t be needed until they ramp up there in May, and skimming through the MEL base flights, there’s a lot of slack in the schedules. Most days the second aircraft only operates for half the day.

He did say 8 I think in the first year.

At one point they were touting 8, but I recall reading that number is now 5. There were originally 8 aircraft destined for LOT and they’ve taken 4 of those. UMQ is the only one left for delivery. UDV was apparently reallocated to Flair but is yet to go to Canada. UBI & UJZ were registered to Bonza, but are now sitting in Tucson after being returned to lessors.