On Monday 7 August 2023, AB apparently cancelled flights between MEL-MQL and return.
It's made the News Corp online national site, with the two passengers quoted stating they respectively paid $50 and $89 for a single (i.e. one way journey):
"...On Monday, Bonza cancelled multiple flights between Mildura and Melbourne due to “crewing requirements”, and offered customers a replacement “coach” service for their 550km journeys in a text message.
Mildura mother Sheree Keating, who travelled home to Mildura from Melbourne on a “coach” with her daughter Stella, said the vehicle was “like a school bus” with bench seats and no toilet..."
Compare this to V/Line, which has fully toilet-equipped road coaches between Mildura and mainly Swan Hill (although some trips extend to Bendigo, and there's also an overnight coach six nights a week in each direction via Ballarat and St Arnaud). The main Mildura services see passengers transferring to or from a V/Line train at Swan Hill or less frequently, Bendigo.
While it's a huge subsidy and amazing given the massive Victorian state debt, the single fare on V/Line from Mildura to Melbourne is $5 for an adult and $2.50 for a concession card holder or child, yet it's more comfortable than what Bonza arranged, as V/Line trains to/from Swan Hill have a buffet section (take-away only, does not serve alcohol).
I wonder how much longer AB will survive.
