Bonza Airlines has revealed its third base at Gold Coast Airport, where the airline will launch 11 new routes – eight of which are not served by any other airline in Australia.
The routes include Gold Coast to Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg, Townsville, and Whitsunday Coast.
The airline will initially wet lease the two aircraft used to operate these flights from its sister low-fare airline, Canadian-based Flair, which is also part-owned by Bonza investors, 777 Partners.
This agreement was termed as a ‘reciprocal’ partnership. ACMI, or wet leasing, has become increasingly popular over recent years due to supply chain disruptions slowing down new aircraft deliveries.
The next phase of Bonza’s growth will see 70 new flights per week and 700,000 additional passenger seats out of Gold Coast Airport. However, this news comes as a surprise given that it was only in July that Bonza announced it would be cutting routes, reducing regional flights and reconsolidating its network due to a lack of demand.
A growth spurt
Bonza added that there will be additional and new destinations that will connect with the Gold Coast, and those new routes will be revealed in due course.
“We’ll be adding new destinations to our route map that will fly from the Gold Coast, and we continue to welcome conversations with airports around the country as we fulfil our mission to connect communities. Our focus continues to be on unserved and underserved markets that we know would benefit from low-cost flights,” said Bonza’s CEO, Tim Jordan.
Recruitment for pilot and cabin crew service on these new routes is due to start imminently.
Queensland Airports Limited CEO Amelia Evans added that the new partnership between Gold Coast Airport and Bonza will massively boost the local economy.
“This is a significant announcement; the commencement of these new routes will deliver more than one hundred million dollars in economic benefit to this region each year,” Evans said.
