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Budget airline Bonza is selling tickets for its first flights out of the Sunshine Coast next week.
Key points:
- Bonza will fly to destinations in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria
- It has bases on the Sunshine Coast and in Melbourne
- Tickets start at $49 for Port Macquarie and Rockhampton fares, ranging to $79 for Cairns flights
The airline's inaugural flight, destination Proserpine, will take place next Tuesday.
Bonza was granted its Air Operator Certificate by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) just before 2pm on January 12.
Flights to Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie and Rockhampton start at $49 and flights to Cairns and Mildura start from $79.
Flights from Bonza's second hub at Melbourne Airport will go on sale "in a matter of weeks", the airline said in a statement.
The carrier will fly to 17 destinations in total, including 13 from its base on the Sunshine Coast.
Those include Cairns, Townsville, the Whitsunday Coast, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg, and Toowoomba.
Interstate destinations include Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Tamworth, Newcastle, Albury, Mildura, Avalon, and Melbourne.
Customers can only book tickets via Bonza's mobile app or through a registered travel agent, reducing the potential number of customers.
Chief commercial officer Carly Povey defended the move to not accept bookings through a website, saying it was "quite a conscious decision".
"It's very rare people walk through an airport with a laptop open, but typically the majority of them walk through an airport with a phone," she said.
"But that's where the travel agency portal comes into place – if they absolutely want someone to hold their hand [to make a booking] then we'd recommend that's the way they go."
After the first flight next week, Bonza's regular schedule will begin on February 14 with a flight to Mackay.
Flights to Avalon begin on February 21.
Flights to Newcastle will not commence until March 28.
The Port Macquarie, Mildura, Coffs Harbour and Albury routes will begin operating in April.
Ms Povey said low prices would be a permanent feature of the airline's model.
"It's important that Aussie travellers know we're on sale, not having a sale," she said.
"We're committed to low-cost fares, which will in turn stimulate new markets for Australia's domestic tourism industry."
The airline had hoped to have flights operating from mid-2022 when it first announced its plans in late 2021, but was forced to wait for a range of approvals from CASA.
Flights are available for bookings up to late October.