Bonza suddenly suspended operations on Tuesday, stranding customers.
After the suspension Bonza CEO, Tim Jordan, said that services were temporarily suspended “Discussions are currently underway regarding the ongoing viability of the business. We apologise to customers who are impacted by this and we’re working as quickly as possible to determine a way forward that ensures there is ongoing competition in the Australian domestic aviation market.”
After the suspension virgin Australia tweeted, “We are aware of the temporary suspension of Bonza flights. We will immediately support any passengers stranded mid-journey by offering complimentary seats on Virgin Australia-operated flights to the airport nearest to their final planned Bonza destination.” Qantas and Jetstar also made the same offer to stranded passengers where Bonza and the Qantas Group have overlapping routes.
Later in the day Bonza announced that it had entered voluntary administration and all flights would be suspended until Friday. In Australia “Voluntary administration is an option for a company that’s in financial trouble and can’t repay its debts. It basically means a qualified manager from outside the business — usually involving a few experts from a consulting firm — is brought in to sort things out.” The Administrators may decide to enter a deed of arrangement to keep the company going, or send the company into liquidation, or return it to the directors (source ABC News Australia).
Guardian Australia said sources told them that the fleet of four 737 Max 8’s had been repossessed this morning. Later in the day an internal note seen by Guardian shows that the aircraft were repossessed by AIP, the effective lessor of the aircraft and that “This was a surprise to both ourselves and 777 Partners. We are currently assessing all options and will provide an update here just as soon as we have more information available to share.” Bonza is owned by 777 Partners.
Just last week Bonza denied it was seeking financial advice from consultants KordaMentha.
Bonza has said that all customers will receive refunds.
Bonza is a low cost point to point leisure carrier that started in January 2023 with it’s base on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. It later opened a second base in Melbourne and the Gold Coast.