Today Australian aviation history was made on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. New entrant Bonza, a true low-cost carrier, operated its first commercial flight and, in doing so, became the first Australian airline to fly the Boeing 737 MAX 8.
The 737 MAX makes it to Australia
Sitting in seat 19D, Simple Flying was onboard for the flight, which barely had an empty seat. Joining SF onboard was a smattering of Bonza's top brass and team members, senior management from financial backer 777 Partners, media, suppliers and the all-important paying passengers.
Around 08:30, the brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 8, initially destined for service with LOT Polish Airlines but now affectionately known as Bazza, effortlessly rolled down the Sunshine Coast Airport (MCY) runway. The 737's two CFM Leap 1B engines soon had the aircraft taking to the skies, the first of many times the sky around the Sunshine Coast will turn purple.
The dream becomes reality
It was in October 2021 that word surfaced about a new startup airline entering the Australian domestic market with the quirky name of Bonza. From day one, Bonza CEO Tim Jordan has been the public face of the airline, and today he revealed to Simple Flying that the airline actually began to take shape more than a decade ago. He said:
"It was around 2009, it really was that long ago, and the first version of Bonza was actually called the Australian Domestic Regional Low-Cost Carrier, we actually didn't have a name for it back then.
"It was very clear to me that after having just returned from Cebu Pacific in the Philippines, there was an opportunity in the Australian market, albeit at a different size and shape to where we are today. It is much bigger today than what it was 14 years ago."
It took time to find the right investors who shared the vision, and Jordan said that once the team had identified that 777 Partners was involved with Flair Airlines it made a lot of sense because "there wasn't a lot of explaining to do."
Jordan also points out that at that time, there was an independent low-cost carrier in the market, whereas today there is not. He adds that the aircraft are larger because the scale of the opportunity is much larger, considering how the market has changed since 2009.
How will Bonza succeed?
When asked about what are the key things that Bonza must focus on for success, without taking a breath, he declares:
"We have to execute really well consistently and stimulate the demand.
"And stimulating demand is as simple as making sure we rightsize our capacities and frequencies to the market as we see the market develop. If we see markets doing well, we may upsize that capacity in terms of frequency."
What also comes across very clearly is that Bonza is not built on sand, wearing rose-tinted glasses about some easy road to success. The Bonza team contains a diverse mix of experienced airline industry people mixed with highly skilled talent brought in to help disrupt the commercial aviation scene.
The CEO is clear that no airline launches 100% of markets that work and that Bonza is unlikely to be an exception to that rule.
"There will undoubtedly be markets that don't work, but we need to be big enough to actually accept that and to step forward and actually change it.
"We will need to be nimble, low-cost carriers generally are, and if we see something not working, we should change it, if we see something working, we should grab it in both hands."
What about the MAX?
The 737 MAX 8 was an absolute joy to travel on and a far superior experience to the legacy 737-800 Simple Flying rode the day before. It has a light, spacious feel and a generous pitch that keeps knees from touching the seat in front, at least for anyone up to six feet tall.
It has a demonstrably quieter cabin than the NG aircraft, comfortable slimline seats and movable headrests that shape to fit the passenger's head. It has extra-large overhead bins, which, as well as giving more space for carry-on bags, help with boarding and deplaning efficiency.
The onboard experience on today's flights was excellent, with the Bonza App the star of the show. Already an innovator, Bonza has done away with carts rumbling up and down the aisle; instead, what a passenger orders on the app is delivered directly to their seat on a tray. With a full plane, this keeps the aisle clear and makes for a quieter and more peaceful ride.
Another welcome feature is that each of the 186 seats has USB power, conveniently located at eye level of the seat back. There is also 110-volt laptop power located below the seat.
A true low-cost carrier in OZ
And, of course, there is Bonza's pricing to talk about. Bonza's published fares are on sale now, although the airline is quick to stress these are not sale fares but rather the new normal going forward.
At a time when Australian fares have become so high that people are deferring travel, Bonza's fares, which start from AU$49 ($34), will be warmly embraced. This is the first time in years that Australians can choose to fly with a low-cost carrier and enjoy direct point-to-point connections that were either underserved or not served at all.
Bonza has stared down its doubters, including some senior industry figures, who said it would never get off the ground. It has and now is set to receive another five new 737 MAX 8s over the coming months, allowing the new airline to turn its attention to its Melbourne base and more new routes.
Discover more aviation news for Australia and Oceania here
Point to Point is here to stay
For those who think the model of connecting regional towns and cities is unsustainable or that if it were feasible, the existing players would be doing it, we will let Tim Jordan explode that myth.
He says that if you take Bonza's home market of the Sunshine Coast, with approximately 350,000 people and match it to any large regional catchment center of about 100,000, you get an idea of how much those markets would need to travel to sustain a twice-weekly service on Bonza.
"It actually says that if every person on both ends of the market had to travel, they would have to travel once every 25 years. Now when you're talking about a leisure destination in Australia, to have a demand on the market of traveling once in every 25 years is really not stretching stimulation to a great extent."
Time will tell, but after a great launch today, Bonza is certainly off to a flying start.
Will you be flying with Bonza and giving the 737 MAX a go? Let us know in the comments.