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SirRumpole

SirRumpole

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Question is will they accumulate enough potential customers, to stay afloat? Sounds and appears more then probable. Like what everyone's most likely saying "Good Luck". Not sure on their routes but, can we see them joining up with Virgin, much like Quantus and Jetstar have a partnership...Interesting to see how they travel !
 
 Bonza managing director Tim Jordan has said the airline needs at least 10 planes to become profitable. It has opened routes – largely where major airlines do not fly – to service budget-conscious leisure travellers.

But there appears to be turbulence.

The budget airline backed by Miami private equity firm 777 Partners, has cut flights from the Gold Coast, and an aircraft that was meant to be based at the Queensland airport remains grounded.

From 01 May, Bonza will reduce the number of flights from Melbourne to the Gold Coast to one a week, and increase flights to the Sunshine Coast – where it has another two aircraft based – to five a week.

It has also reduced flights from the Gold Coast to Launceston from three to one a week, and scrapped its Gold Coast to Mount Isa service in May and June. The changes follow the closure of five routes in July, six months into its operations.

The Boeing 737-MAX aircraft, which was meant to be based at the Gold Coast, has been grounded since March, when it was redirected from Canadian low-cost airline Flair to fly in Australia.

A Bonza spokeswoman said the plane required re-certification from the Civil Aviation Authority after being transferred from Flair, a process she said had taken longer than expected. The aircraft currently remains registered as flying for Flair.

Bonza had been wet-leasing an aircraft from Nauru Airlines, which abruptly cancelled flights this week.

Bonza and Flair are backed by Miami-based private equity firm 777 Partners, which was stripped of its planes by New York-based funder A-Cap this month. Financiers to 777 and Bonza have called in corporate restructuring house KordaMentha to assess the airline’s operations. A Bonza spokeswoman confirmed that the airline’s fleet of 737-MAX 8 planes had been transferred to a new company, Phoenix Aviation Capital, which is wholly owned by A-Cap.

Phoenix will be operated by AIP Capital, which is 51 per cent owned by its management. A-Cap took control of the remaining 49 per cent from 777 this month, in a move that also had it take charge of 30 Boeing 737-MAX 8 planes.

Leasing rates for narrow-body aircraft have rocketed since 777 acquired the planes during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bonza spokeswoman said 777 would continue to back the airline financially and that its long-term lease agreements remained in place.

But Bonza has faced problems in expanding its fleet in an extremely tight leasing market.

There are also questions over the financial standing of 777 – which is being sued by Irish lessors over unpaid aircraft leases, pursued by the US Justice Department over money-laundering allegations and to whom A-Cap has withdrawn a funding line.
 
Mr Gumnut was rhapsodic that Bonza offered a service from Townsville to Noise, I seem to recall.

I asked a mate about Bonza a month ago; his comment was that they have no back-up if a plane isn't available for a scheduled service. This may well be the case.

My mate is a pilot, ex Virgin, now with Link Airways - not to be confused with QantasLink.

Link Airways | Official Website | Book Flights

Book flights, search low fares, discover destination information, manage upcoming trips and more. Experience Link Airways’ renown service on every flight, book today!
www.linkairways.com www.linkairways.com

They also have an eclectic offering, but in smaller planes, using 34 passenger seat Saab 340B Plus and 19 passenger seat Metro 23 aircraft.

Link Airways is owned by Corporate Air (established 1972) which is one of the largest and longest established aviation service providers based in eastern Australia.

Screenshot_20240419-214133_Chrome.jpg
 
Discount airline Bonza’s local domestic flights have been cancelled, and its planes are said to have been repossessed.

Most of Bonza’s flights were flagged by airports as cancelled on Tuesday morning, and one aviation source said the airline’s fleet of Boeing 737-MAX-8 planes had been repossessed by creditors.
 
Air Vanuatu has cancelled multiple flights to and from Australia, Noumea and New Zealand after reportedly being placed into voluntary administration.

Cancelled flights include services from Sydney to Port Vila on 08 to 11 May and from Brisbane to Port Vila on the same dates.

On its website, the airline attributed the changes to “extended maintenance requirements on our aircraft,” and said it was working with partner airlines to minimise disruptions
 
Dona Ferentes said:
Air Vanuatu has cancelled multiple flights to and from Australia, Noumea and New Zealand after reportedly being placed into voluntary administration.

Cancelled flights include services from Sydney to Port Vila on 08 to 11 May and from Brisbane to Port Vila on the same dates.

On its website, the airline attributed the changes to “extended maintenance requirements on our aircraft,” and said it was working with partner airlines to minimise disruptions
Click to expand...
@DF Hmmmmm perhaps belly-up and no more flying.
 
no IPO for a while ?


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