Bonza Airline Discussion

[henrus]

Some initial comments from this morning.
I arrived at 7am as they were about to start media stuff. Walked up to the coffee shop and was asked if I was flying with Bonza, I said yes and the coffee was free. There was some mini pies, quiches and fruit/yogurt cups being passed around the gate area. Everyone got a Bonza thumb made from cardboard plus a Sunshine Coast airport water bottle.

Stirling hinchcliffe and Cameron dick along with the Bonza ceo plus Sunshine Coast airport ceo gave a speech.
The media got a chance to ask questions including a few about Sydney, with the ceo responding they’d like to fly out of Sydney but that’d only happen if Sydney airport came to the party with a commercial agreement. The ceo also commented that ticket sales started on Friday morning and so far a bit over 10,000 tickets have been sold.

After the speeches about 5 different people had turns making the boarding announcement (person from sunrise, actual gate agents plus ceo).
Boarding slowly started with plenty more photos on the ramp. It’s clear there is some preference for 7 news/sunrise (as an announcement was even made for everyone to quieten up for a sunrise live cross - sorry abc and 9news)

I Found out I was one of five commercial passengers, as mentioned in an earlier post everyone else was media/invited.

Onboard you wouldn’t know it’s a 737max I’ve flown a United one before and they look identical to a 737ng with a BSI. Again as mentioned earlier there are two power sockets between the three seats (typical multi country ones as seen on most aircraft). Each seat also has a USB type A socket although I’d avoid as I tested it and it was only pumping out 500mAh of power so rather slow charging. During cruise the noise onboard was 77db (no idea how it compares to normal 737s).

Onboard there is a wifi network that is local only (despite the satellite antenna on the roof). Very limited entertainment, mainly just some free podcasts and you order through the app off the menu (screenshots of the full thing attached). I think it was all free given instead of using the app everyone was personally asked by the FA if they wanted something.

Obviously I’m not flying for free like 99% of the other passengers onboard so I guess it lets me be honest. Realistically this was very much a press flight so it’s hard to tell how the experience would normally be given everyone is really excited. There were people ordering rose and beers at 8am which is probably not the usual thing, likewise no baggage was weighed or measured (if it was the channel 7 camera crew would have paid a lot of excess).

I look forward to the return flight this afternoon and also can’t wait to see long term how performance goes. With only 2-3 flights per week at some destinations it’ll be interesting to see if one gets cancelled how the service recovery performs. Overall though very positive start and wish them luck because the product seems much better than a JQ A320.

 

[justinbrett]

Correct a local network. Apologies for the long post, I’ll edit later but this is the full menu. You pay via credit card on the app. The wifi network doesn’t have an external connection (although this is being looked into). It also has some entertainment but this is limited to some basic games, free podcasts and a couple of ebooks.View attachment 315437View attachment 315438View attachment 315439View attachment 315440View attachment 315441View attachment 315442View attachment 315443View attachment 315444

View attachment 315435View attachment 315436

Probably not a great sign they are stocking Ballistic beers when they just went bankrupt!

 

[drron]

Probably not a great sign they are stocking Ballistic beers when they just went bankrupt!

Though they expect a reorganisation and to be out of voluntary administration in 5 weeks. Will have to see.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/ballistic-beer-company-enters-administration-with-massive-restructure-underway/news-story/2cc09277ca727d61a9e5c614f913789e

The Your Mates Brewery about 1KM from our place. The Sunshine & Sons distillery is at the Big Pineapple.

But @henrus I really want to know were they giving out free budgie smugglers and did you pick up one?

 

[henrus]

But @henrus I really want to know were they giving out free budgie smugglers and did you pick up one?

Nope, none handed out for free. Some did buy via the app.

 

[Melburnian1]

I've not read every previous page so pardon if these have been asked before.

Given the likelihood it is not "on" the GDS, does anyone have a current timetable for this outfit showing all flights on all routes, days operated and dates?

I looked up FR24 but for the two registered aircraft the airfleets site says Bonza has, neither had flight(s) recorded for this morning/early afternoon.

Google didn't appear to have caught up with how AB has at least one MCY-PPP flight each week.

A dearth of information, and I'm another who has zero interest in installing an app. The airline needs a normal website where one books travel. Every other airline and rail operator in Australia of a reasonable size can do this.

Given the age profile of Queenslanders (many pensioners), I agree Bonza will miss out on a fairly substantial swathe of potential passengers.

 

[Scarlett]

I wonder how the 10,000 seats goes against a metric?

If I were to create my own, I’d suggest (12 x routes flown daily from their total 27 overall planned routes) x (2 - return flight) x (150 seats sold in an aircraft to turn a decent profit) = 3600 pax flying on any given day once properly up and running.

Therefore the current ticket sales indicate they have 3 ‘days of supply’ of forward bookings which would make me really worried.

But then of course they’ve got more sales occurring each day, and they may have a cost base that turns a profit from only 100 pax per flight, who knows.

 

[PineappleSkip]

some local media hype here
Bonza all set for first flight

cheers skip

 

[justinbrett]

I've not read every previous page so pardon if these have been asked before.

Given the likelihood it is not "on" the GDS, does anyone have a current timetable for this outfit showing all flights on all routes, days operated and dates?

I looked up FR24 but for the two registered aircraft the airfleets site says Bonza has, neither had flight(s) recorded for this morning/early afternoon.

Google didn't appear to have caught up with how AB has at least one MCY-PPP flight each week.

A dearth of information, and I'm another who has zero interest in installing an app. The airline needs a normal website where one books travel. Every other airline and rail operator in Australia of a reasonable size can do this.

Given the age profile of Queenslanders (many pensioners), I agree Bonza will miss out on a fairly substantial swathe of potential passengers.

I'd argue there's probably more pensioners with a smart phone than ones with a desktop/laptop.

BNZ777 appeared on Flight Aware, although it did say unknown operator. I guess databases of airline codes need to be updated.

The flight did not appear on the PPP airport website flight board though, which I thought was funny.

 

[Harrison_133]

Given the likelihood it is not "on" the GDS, does anyone have a current timetable for this outfit showing all flights on all routes, days operated and dates?

I was wondering the same thing, so I played around with the app and found the following.

Once all routes operated by the MCY base are operational, they’ll have 2 lines of flying with each aircraft operating 6 sectors per day. Most flights have 30 minute turn arounds at ports other than MCY and there are a few 25 minute turns hidden in there too.

Using June as an example:
• Monday: MCY-TSV/ABX/CNS/ROK, TSV-ROK, CNS-ROK
• Tuesday: MCY-MKY/AVV/PPP/MQL/NTL/CNS
• Wednesday: MCY-TSV/PQQ/CNS/ROK, TSV-ROK, CNS-MKY
• Thursday: MCY-MKY/AVV/PPP/NTL/CFS, NTL-PPP
• Friday: MCY-TSV/ABX/CNS/ROK, TSV-ROK, CNS-ROK
• Saturday: MCY-MKY/AVV/PQQ/MQL/NTL/TSV
• Sunday: MCY-NTL/CFS/CNS/PPP, NTL-PPP, CNS-MKY

This is just a reflection of what is available once all routes currently on sale are operational. Until then, frequency/times/days of operation vary.

Also, I haven’t seen it mentioned here yet, but Bonza check-in closes 40 minutes before departure. Will no doubt catch a few people out like Tiger’s 45 minute cut off did.

 

[henrus]

The flight did not appear on the PPP airport website flight board though, which I thought was funny.

Nope, can confirm none of the screens at PPP showed either the arrival or departing flight. That being said the arriving flight gate did have a full screen Bonza logo.

 

[Saab34]

At least it’s a consistent product across the fleet, ie Power/USB/Legroom options. Virgin is just so hit and mess depending on the rego of the bird. Jetstar has USB (not sure on power) but that’s the NEO fleet only.

That certainly is a wide range of booze. The others you only get about 4 options max, stock standard everyday stuff. Looking forward to trialing a few of those, some of the best drinks we have discovered over the years have been on some international carriers, options we never would have tried previously.

 

[Melburnian1]

Most flights have 30 minute turn arounds at ports other than MCY and there are a few 25 minute turns hidden in there too.

Bonza would no doubt say 'Ryanair and Easyjet do it, so we can too' but having 25 minute timetabled turnarounds for jet aircraft risks the roster losing time all day. It only takes one slow passenger with checked baggage, or a little initial bad weather.

Even half an hour is cutting it fine, especially if operating into a major airport such as MEL.

JQd hardly has impressive timekeeping domestically (or internationally) and that's broadly the modal Bonza is attempting to emulate.

 

[dajop]

Bonza would no doubt say 'Ryanair and Easyjet do it, so we can too'

Not sure if Australians have the mindset for it to work. The way Ryanair does it is by competing “boarding” processes before the plane even lands, so that everyone is in a holding pen /corridor and ready to go as soon as inbound pax have disembarked and a brief/cosmetic clean is completed.

 

[justinbrett]

Bonza would no doubt say 'Ryanair and Easyjet do it, so we can too' but having 25 minute timetabled turnarounds for jet aircraft risks the roster losing time all day. It only takes one slow passenger with checked baggage, or a little initial bad weather.

Even half an hour is cutting it fine, especially if operating into a major airport such as MEL.

JQd hardly has impressive timekeeping domestically (or internationally) and that's broadly the modal Bonza is attempting to emulate.

There's a lot of padding in scheduled flight times, and considering most of their ports other than MEL will be small airports, it's definitely doable.

Their flight patterns will generally to/from the hub, so the question is how long is the turnaround at the hub. If the outstation turns are 25 minutes but then the hub turnaround is 60 minutes, that's completely fine.

It's a different airline, it's not like they're flying MEL-SYD-BNE all day.

 

[henrus]

At least it’s a consistent product across the fleet, ie Power/USB/Legroom options.

Plus hopefully wifi in the near future.

Jetstar has USB (not sure on power) but that’s the NEO fleet only.

Jetstar’s 787s have power and usb whilst the neos have usb only.

that's broadly the modal Bonza is attempting to emulate.

I had a chat to the CEO and asked about service recovery. He claims this will be a big point of difference and the plan to have an aircraft on spare at all times. How this looks in practice who knows but they have got a clear cut system in place to provide delay compensation via the app. Also the app/booking system is apparently the same one used by flair and was developed by 777 partners so this allows for further customisation down the track, during his speeches the long term goal is to add in other bookings like hotels and restaurants.

 

[henrus]

Currently awaiting the return flight at the airport. For everyone on the first flight there was a bus from Proserpine airport to Airlie Beach with some food/drinks on the beach.

 

[Harrison_133]

Their flight patterns will generally to/from the hub, so the question is how long is the turnaround at the hub. If the outstation turns are 25 minutes but then the hub turnaround is 60 minutes, that's completely fine.

They’ve got 50 minute turn arounds in MCY, so they’re decently padded. There are some 30 minute turns in MCY, but mostly where I’d assume it’s the same crew operating both rotations. Example: MCY-AVV return, 30 minute turnaround, then MCY-PPP return.

They also have the 3rd MCY based aircraft that doesn’t have any scheduled flying lines, so that should help service recovery.

 

[justinbrett]

They’ve got 50 minute turn arounds in MCY, so they’re decently padded. There are some 30 minute turns in MCY, but mostly where I’d assume it’s the same crew operating both rotations. Example: MCY-AVV return, 30 minute turnaround, then MCY-PPP return.

They also have the 3rd MCY based aircraft that doesn’t have any scheduled flying lines, so that should help service recovery.

And MCY is itself a small airport.

I would think the MEL hub will need longer turnarounds.

 

[Melburnian1]

They’ve got 50 minute turn arounds in MCY, so they’re decently padded. There are some 30 minute turns in MCY, but mostly where I’d assume it’s the same crew operating both rotations. Example: MCY-AVV return, 30 minute turnaround, then MCY-PPP return.

They also have the 3rd MCY based aircraft that doesn’t have any scheduled flying lines, so that should help service recovery.

Could you please lay out duties for one aircraft on a typical day or week?

i.e. (just made up times below not reality)

MCY 1010 PPP 1150 AB--- -2-4-6-
PPP 1215 MCY 1355 AB-- -2-4-6-
MCY 1445 AVV 1800 AB-- -2-4-6-
AVV 1825 MCY 2030 AB -2-4-6-

 

[Harrison_133]

Could you please lay out duties for one aircraft on a typical day or week?

Sure. I’ll use Monday & Friday’s schedule in June as an example of what I was looking at.

Aircraft 1:
AB631 MCY0645 - 0845TSV
AB927 TSV0915 - 1030ROK
AB928 ROK1100 - 1225TSV
AB634 TSV1255 - 1450MCY
AB565 MCY1540 - 1750ABX
AB566 ABX1820 - 2025MCY

Aircraft 2:
AB583 MCY0715 - 0935CNS
AB911 CNS1005 - 1145ROK
AB912 ROK1215 - 1400CNS
AB586 CNS1430 - 1635MCY
AB627 MCY1725 - 1835ROK
AB628 ROK1905 - 2015MCY

Everyday of the week, the first flights leave MCY at 0645 or 0715. And just to reiterate, there is quite a lot of variation until all the routes are operational.