Bonza has its AOC
Bain axed Mildura in August 2020. Not even a -700 would save that route.
Run some numbers for Melbourne to Mildura, fuel, leasing, the whole lot on a shiny expensive MAX. One heck of a cash burner.
You need to run some numbers before throwing darts at a map.
Run some numbers for Melbourne to Mildura, fuel, leasing, the whole lot on a shiny expensive MAX. One heck of a cash burner.
You need to run some numbers before throwing darts at a map.
They are probably cannibalising their own markets. Operating Mildura to a one SEQ destination is one thing, but then to introduce a second SEQ destination, operating on the same days, is a tough ask.
They keep connecting the dots to some of these regional areas from other locations, but it’s likely just all too much for some of these regions.
Winter is coming, what do people want? They want Sydney and Melbourne to anything sun. Wouldn’t you go fishing where the fish are?
They keep connecting the dots to some of these regional areas from other locations, but it’s likely just all too much for some of these regions.
Winter is coming, what do people want? They want Sydney and Melbourne to anything sun. Wouldn’t you go fishing where the fish are?
We know how that ends....
What competition have the above thrown at Bonza to date ?
About all thats been done is a few point to point routes started ahead of Bonza by Qantas
Bonza have not copped what REX is copping now or the many that tried in the past
If they are thinking long term, Bonza is on the right path
Get established
Grow a fleet and team to support it
Lose as little as possible whilst doing so
Then when the time is right ie 30 or so frames, jump onto the routes that matter by redirecting resources
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VA started Mildura at a time that BG and LKH were at war, and BG wanted to use the EJets to ruin Rex in the country, which as most of us knew then was going to just bleed money for VA. When the EJets were phased out Mildura was retained as a Boeing route with the idea that the ATR would eventually service it, but Melbourne airport/Airservices stymied VA attempts to put more ATRs out of Melbourne, due to how slow they were and problems fitting in with Melbourne traffic, this was while QLink was operating Q400s in Melbourne so no slow early Dash 8s. Unfortunately it was an attachment most days to the end of a crew/aircraft roster so it often ran late, on top of that the yield was very poor to keep numbers up. Fridays/Sunday afternoons relatively good loads, the rest of the week struggled for 50%.
From the letters to the editor page of Sunshine Coast News 6/4/24........
"If you are the type of individual who doesn’t like to plan or schedule anything, loves last minute surprises and definitely doesn’t care about being stranded at crowded airports then Bonzo is for you.
I must admit that their Russian roulette destination booking service lives up to and indeed exceeds all expectations. Okay, you book where you would like to go and then those cheeky Bonzo team members throw a dice to advise you where you will go but then wait, there’s more. At the last minute, just for a laugh they pull out the Joker, cancel the flight for ‘maintenance reasons’ but really it’s for lack of passengers.
Absolutely hilarious, couldn’t stop laughing and full credit to the Bonzo CEO management trainee. And here’s the really good part, when you’re at the airport and they cancel, they tell you ‘sorry, but we can’t help you, but we’ll be flying again in a few days if you want to book again’. Absolutely rebooking is a must because they want you to experience the same thing over and over and over again. Good on ya Bonzo, you legends and to anyone reading this: hurry, book now because it won’t be long till good old Bonzo is no more."
"If you are the type of individual who doesn’t like to plan or schedule anything, loves last minute surprises and definitely doesn’t care about being stranded at crowded airports then Bonzo is for you.
I must admit that their Russian roulette destination booking service lives up to and indeed exceeds all expectations. Okay, you book where you would like to go and then those cheeky Bonzo team members throw a dice to advise you where you will go but then wait, there’s more. At the last minute, just for a laugh they pull out the Joker, cancel the flight for ‘maintenance reasons’ but really it’s for lack of passengers.
Absolutely hilarious, couldn’t stop laughing and full credit to the Bonzo CEO management trainee. And here’s the really good part, when you’re at the airport and they cancel, they tell you ‘sorry, but we can’t help you, but we’ll be flying again in a few days if you want to book again’. Absolutely rebooking is a must because they want you to experience the same thing over and over and over again. Good on ya Bonzo, you legends and to anyone reading this: hurry, book now because it won’t be long till good old Bonzo is no more."
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From the letters to the editor page of Sunshine Coast News 6/4/24........
"If you are the type of individual who doesn’t like to plan or schedule anything, loves last minute surprises and definitely doesn’t care about being stranded at crowded airports then Bonzo is for you.
I must admit that their Russian roulette destination booking service lives up to and indeed exceeds all expectations. Okay, you book where you would like to go and then those cheeky Bonzo team members throw a dice to advise you where you will go but then wait, there’s more. At the last minute, just for a laugh they pull out the Joker, cancel the flight for ‘maintenance reasons’ but really it’s for lack of passengers.
Absolutely hilarious, couldn’t stop laughing and full credit to the Bonzo CEO management trainee. And here’s the really good part, when you’re at the airport and they cancel, they tell you ‘sorry, but we can’t help you, but we’ll be flying again in a few days if you want to book again’. Absolutely rebooking is a must because they want you to experience the same thing over and over and over again. Good on ya Bonzo, you legends and to anyone reading this: hurry, book now because it won’t be long till good old Bonzo is no more."
"If you are the type of individual who doesn’t like to plan or schedule anything, loves last minute surprises and definitely doesn’t care about being stranded at crowded airports then Bonzo is for you.
I must admit that their Russian roulette destination booking service lives up to and indeed exceeds all expectations. Okay, you book where you would like to go and then those cheeky Bonzo team members throw a dice to advise you where you will go but then wait, there’s more. At the last minute, just for a laugh they pull out the Joker, cancel the flight for ‘maintenance reasons’ but really it’s for lack of passengers.
Absolutely hilarious, couldn’t stop laughing and full credit to the Bonzo CEO management trainee. And here’s the really good part, when you’re at the airport and they cancel, they tell you ‘sorry, but we can’t help you, but we’ll be flying again in a few days if you want to book again’. Absolutely rebooking is a must because they want you to experience the same thing over and over and over again. Good on ya Bonzo, you legends and to anyone reading this: hurry, book now because it won’t be long till good old Bonzo is no more."
Rockhampton Airport said they carried 100,000 passengers in the first year on Bonza.
Doing the math, they had around 170,000 seats into Rockhampton.
Newcastle has claimed they had 65,000 Bonza passengers in and out of its airport.
They had around 102,000 seats into Newcastle.
What is clear, is this sort of operation would work well with a 120-130 seater.
They said breakeven is at 90%. Trying to penetrate a further 30% into some of these markets in order to make a dollar, is a big ask. I just don’t think the regions can produce such traffic.
This model is likely about 50 years too early, the regions just need to fatten out a bit more before they can hit such numbers.
Doing the math, they had around 170,000 seats into Rockhampton.
Newcastle has claimed they had 65,000 Bonza passengers in and out of its airport.
They had around 102,000 seats into Newcastle.
What is clear, is this sort of operation would work well with a 120-130 seater.
They said breakeven is at 90%. Trying to penetrate a further 30% into some of these markets in order to make a dollar, is a big ask. I just don’t think the regions can produce such traffic.
This model is likely about 50 years too early, the regions just need to fatten out a bit more before they can hit such numbers.
If you are a low cost outfit, and you are at your passenger number ceiling on specific routes, with an aircraft too big, the only options are to cancel the route or close the whole place down, a smaller jet isn’t going to solve the issues with the inability to push pricing up as a budget player, your overheads are not exactly falling off a cliff when you downsize to something smaller, especially Embraer.
MAX and NEO are profit machines when full.
I'm pretty sure 'low cost' carriers are now at a crossroad. With only two major manufacturers building anything worthwhile and one of those struggling to meet orders the cost of aircraft is going to jump significantly over the coming years without significant government subsidies. No one wants to get into the commercial aircraft scene because airlines have screwed the contracts down so far that it's uneconomical and the big players set the conditions. There's a lot more cash in military contracts which is where BAE and SAAB went, and Boeing as well. Second, just like the aircraft manufacturers and suppliers, pilots have also been screwed to the point it's no longer a job of romance or choice, long hours away, mediocre contracts. The industry has cannibalized itself into a corner that is going to cost a lot to dig out from. So whatever expansion the airlines want is completely held back by their own mistakes of the past. Australia is just a few years behind the US where the regionals failed spectacularly over a few short years because of their antiquate methods and contracts.
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Some operators are now signing heavily priced leases way ahead of time and having them parked for months until needed, purely just to secure them. You will find many idle aircraft which are thought to be leased, simply sitting around have actually already had the contract signed, not required for months or another year. It’s going to get tough in the coming years for Seattle metal, especially the stretched one yet to be certified.
United was even talking about delivery buying slots from other customers also.
You can see why Skytrans are jumping at the charter opportunity, will be significant wet lease work over the coming years to prop up airlines who simply just don’t have the fleet. The luxury of a spare to cover engineering simply will be exactly that, a luxury. Step in Skytrans, Nauru and Wamos.
With only two major manufacturers building anything worthwhile and one of those struggling to meet orders the cost of aircraft is going to jump significantly over the coming years without significant government subsidies. No one wants to get into the commercial aircraft scene because airlines have screwed the contracts down so far that it's uneconomical and the big players set the conditions.
That's if you can get planes and pilots. And another storm coming for Australian airlines will be the implementation of proper consumer protections in line with most other countries. It will make it very difficult to cancel/delay flights without significant compensation. The big players have economy of scale and their own pilot channels, even though they are behind at the moment its much better than what a start up will be facing. Plus the likes of QF group still have market power to procure planes. Pretty sure VA and Rex will be first in queue to snap up any slots in Sydney etc that could let loose due to new rules preventing ghost flights hording slots. If Bonza wanted Sydney slots they need to be already operating there to get a foothold.
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That's if you can get planes and pilots. And another storm coming for Australian airlines will be the implementation of proper consumer protections in line with most other countries. It will make it very difficult to cancel/delay flights without significant compensation. The big players have economy of scale and their own pilot channels, even though they are behind at the moment its much better than what a start up will be facing. Plus the likes of QF group still have market power to procure planes. Pretty sure VA and Rex will be first in queue to snap up any slots in Sydney etc that could let loose due to new rules preventing ghost flights hording slots. If Bonza wanted Sydney slots they need to be already operating there to get a foothold.
Source: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizen...sation-delay-1
Cancellations are treated differently. In the case of a cancellation you are entitled to reimbursement, re-routing or return costs, on top of the delay compensation. (https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizen...m#cancellation)
Last edited by MickG0105; 7th Apr 2024 at 03:27. Reason: Added clarification of total compensation for cancellation
On top of that if the delays move into prolonged stays the airline has to foot the bill for accommodation and expected living costs, ie meals.
The Ryanair boss had a big cry about it when the Icelandic volcano was blowing it's lid. Most of the response was that he suck it up and not try to sell 5 Euro tickets so the airline can cater for contingencies....
The Ryanair boss had a big cry about it when the Icelandic volcano was blowing it's lid. Most of the response was that he suck it up and not try to sell 5 Euro tickets so the airline can cater for contingencies....