Australian start-up Bonza has wet-leased two Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft from sister unit Flair Airlines, as part of efforts to shore up capacity after months of operational snags.
The two aircraft will be deployed at its new Gold Coast base, operating services to 14 domestic points including to Melbourne, Mackay and Darwin.
Both Bonza and Canada-based Flair are backed by Miami private equity firm 777 Partners and operate 737 Max 8s. Cirium fleets data shows Flair to have a fleet of 17 737 Max 8s.
“In the short term Bonza will use the two aircraft…to service the Gold Coast base [while] its other aircraft continue to fly thousands of customers to their destinations from the airline’s Sunshine Coast and Melbourne bases,” the airline says on 19 December.
Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority greenlit the plans to use Flair’s 737s and crew, adding that the approval was given after Bonza “demonstrated how it is safely integrating the Canadian-registered aircraft and crew members into its operation”.
The new aircraft brings Bonza’s fleet size to six 737 Max 8s. The airline, which began operations in early 2023, had touted bullish expansion plans, targeting an initial route map of 27 routes to 17 domestic cities with a fleet of four aircraft.
However, by July, Bonza – Australia’s first independent low-cost operator in more than a decade – was forced to cut back on expansion in a significant network rejig that saw five routes cut and frequencies on another 20 reduced.
At the time, the airline said it made these cuts to “allow us to build in additional spare capacity” within its fleet, so that “we have a buffer”.
In his latest statement, Bonza chief Tim Jordan acknowledges the “challenging time for some of our customers who were unable to fly” because of the network cuts.
Bonza’s operating model differs from other carriers: point-to-point services from secondary cities in Australia, eschewing operations within the ‘Golden Triangle’ of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
