Bonza ready to fly – Central Queensland Today

Jump for joy at Bonza’s arrival in Rockhampton.

By Matthew Pearce

New low-cost Aussie airline Bonza is ready to fly, with the first flight arriving in Rockhampton later this month.

In February last year, Bonza unveiled 27 routes to 17 destinations across Australia, including Rockhampton.

Tickets are now on sale for direct flights from Rockhampton to the Sunshine Coast three days a week, Townsville three days a week and Cairns two days a week, with flights to Melbourne coming at a later date.

The airline’s first flight was from the Sunshine Coast to the Whitsundays on Tuesday, January 31, with flights already available to book until the end of October.

The first flight from Rockhampton to Townsville will be on February 24, with the Sunshine Coast on March 13 and Cairns on March 31.

Flights from Rockhampton to the Sunshine Coast start from $49 one way, flights to Townsville start from $49 and flights to Cairns start from $59.

Rockhampton Airport chairman Neil Fisher said the low-cost airline had a lot to offer Rockhampton and Central Queensland, with many new opportunities for tourism.

“Imagine you’re in cold, miserable Melbourne and you come to Rockhampton for a weekend fishing trip,” he said.

“There aren’t many other places where you can stay in a five-star motel, take a fishing line, walk 200m and catch a metre-long barra.”

Cr Fisher said he had developed a good relationship with chief executive Tim Jordan and the Bonza team.

“The entire management team is like the original Virgin Blue, they make air travel fun again and are going to turn the entire aviation industry on its head.”

He said the next step for Rockhampton Airport was flights from Rockhampton to Longreach and the Central West.

“We’ve had good meetings with various industry bodies about east-west flights and are hopefully on a good footing to get them up and running this year.”

Carly Povey, chief commercial officer of Bonza, it was time to see “more of your own backyard for less”.

“We are delighted to deliver on our commitment to make air travel more accessible. We promised choice and better connectivity to the regions for less and we were delighted with the support for our mission,” she said.

“Today we begin to make travel a possibility for the many, not the few.”

You can buy tickets using the Fly Bonza app. Those who previously downloaded the app are asked to delete it and reinstall the latest version to have the ability to book flights.