I took my last flight with Bonza in February. I’d planned to write a review comparing it with Jetstar, its low-cost rival, so I flew Bonza from Newcastle to the Sunshine Coast and then Jetstar from there back to Sydney. But now, with the airline going into administration, there’s no point in that comparison.
The odds were always high that Bonza would fail. In my lifetime, most attempts at launching a rival domestic carrier – Tiger, Impulse, Compass – have collapsed. Australia is a two-and-a-bit airline market.
And the signs were there for Bonza specifically. As I noted when I first flew Bonza last year, one of its most appealing features was how uncrowded it was. That’s great for passengers, but lousy for the business. And it was the same on my last flight – I had the entire row to myself.
Many people I know complain about Jetstar (or Shitstar, as its detractors call it). However, one thing you don’t often see on a Jetstar flight is loads of vacant seats. It has managed to get the route mix and price mix right.
Bonza also had technical issues. You could only book flights through its app, but the app itself was buggy. Indeed, one of the most popular stories I’ve ever written on this site describes how passengers can’t actually log into their own accounts in the app. Ouch.
The other massive challenge was its regionally-centric approach. Infamously, it had no flights to Sydney, Australia’s biggest city. At launch, its only base was the Sunshine Coast. It subsequently added secondary bases in the Gold Coast and Melbourne, but ultimately the lack of Sydney connectivity just made it far less viable.
Will Bonza rise from the ashes? I’m going to call it as “no”. While administrators are exploring options, the fact the airline can’t even pay staff wages for April is a really telling sign.
Bonza is busted, I’d say. And I regret not buying its most infamous item of merchandise, the purple budgie smugglers, when I had the chance.
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