Australian startup Bonza has confirmed that its third base will be at Gold Coast Airport (OOL), with two aircraft set to operate 11 routes from the airport.
This move will see 70 new flights per week and almost 700,000 additional passenger seats a year into and out of the Queensland base. Eight of the 11 routes are not served by any other airline.
“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,” Bonza CEO Tim Jordan says.
The 11 domestic destinations to be served from OOL are to Albury, Bundaberg, Cairns, Gladstone, Mackay, Melbourne Avalon, Melbourne Tullamarine, Mildura, Rockhampton, Townsville, and the Whitsunday Coast. Flights will commence progressively from November.
Bonza plans to initially wet-lease aircraft to operate the services from OOL. The LCC currently has a fleet of four Boeing 737-8s, flying from bases at Sunshine Coast Airport (MCY) and Melbourne Airport.
Queensland Airports CEO Amelia Evans says: “This is a significant announcement—the commencement of these new routes will deliver more than AU$100 million [$66 million] in economic benefit to this region each year.
“Not only will Bonza bring more tourists to the Gold Coast and Northern New South Wales region, giving our destination an opportunity to showcase our region, it will also open up connections for our locals to connect with loved ones across regional Australia.”
In July, Bonza announced it will cut five routes from its network from Aug. 1 because of weak demand. However, the airline will continue to operate 22 routes, most of which are exclusive to the carrier.
Three routes are being dropped from its MCY home base in Queensland. MCY routes being cut from Aug. 1 include flights to Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, and Tamworth. Also being cut are domestic services between Cairns and Mackay and between Toowoomba Wellcamp and Whitsunday Coast.
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