Bonza Airways started operations in Australia in January 2023. It was hailed in its place low-cost airline to serve underutilized regional routes in Australia. However is Bonza Airways actually that low cost in comparison with different choices? I checked out the way it compares:
You’ll be able to solely ebook flights by way of the app
To begin with, I need to level out that you just He can solely ebook flights on Bonza by downloading their app. It is a horrible concept and means you’ll be able to’t use a flight search engine like Google Flights to verify costs and routes. Bonza is clearly hoping that folks will simply verify their app and never trouble taking a look at rivals’ costs.
The app isn’t significantly good and at the moment has a moderately poor score on the App Retailer (2.2/5). Even Qantas – at the moment essentially the most hated airline/firm within the nation has a significantly better score (4.8/5).
Bonza is somewhat cheaper
Bonza is a less expensive choice if you’re flying from regional cities comparable to Albury. Earlier than Bonza, the one choices had been Rex and Qantas – which have pretty comparable fares. So for regional areas Bonza may very well be less expensive.
To verify how the Bonza compares on a extra well-liked route, I looked for a flight from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast.
The flight with seats and baggage is added as much as 354 {dollars} on Bonza. On Jetstar was total 409 {dollars} with seats and luggage. So Bonza turned out to be cheaper.
Nonetheless not as low cost as I anticipated and never similar to the prices of low cost airways in Europe.
Will Bonza achieve success?
It’s too early to say whether or not Bonza will obtain success. Since they’re utilizing an app-only mannequin, they will need to have made issues troublesome for themselves. I do not see them holding this mannequin sooner or later. They’ve discontinued routes up to now, however they’ve additionally introduced plans for brand spanking new routes so it is arduous to gauge.
It isn’t clear how a lot loss Bonza is taking now to be worthwhile sooner or later. I can say with 100% certainty that they aren’t worthwhile but. Bonza are flying model new plane on routes that I am unable to think about being full. 777 Companions, the US non-public fairness agency that owns the airline, mentioned Bonza may very well be worthwhile in its second yr. That will not occur.
We want extra airline competitors in Australia and Bonza is certainly making an attempt to be totally different, which is an efficient factor.
What do you consider Bonza? Are they right here to remain?