‘Qantas and Virgin are not going to sit back and watch somebody eat their lunch’: Why Bonza failed to take off

Budget carrier Bonza went into voluntary administration this week, although it seemed anything but voluntary as planes were being repossessed from tarmacs and passengers of an airline that no longer existed were stranded at various places across the regions.

As international aviation consultant, Neil Hansford, told the Fear & Greed podcast on Wednesday morning, Bonza’s crash comes as no surprise.

“The business model was unlikely to work in Australia,” he stated bluntly, pointing to start-up costs, coupled with the “problem of trying to provide an all- leisure airline on routes that are fundamentally too thin, with an aircraft that was 180 seats” – and a new aircraft at that.