Bonza-bound aircraft sent to Canada following repossession with Flair

A Boeing 737 aircraft which was to be operated by Bonza in Australia has instead been delivered to a low-cost carrier in Canada.

The aircraft owned by 777 Partners has been deployed to operate flights for Flair Airlines, an airline partially owned by 777 Partners.

Bonza currently has four Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, with plans to extend that to eight.

The deployment of the 737 to Flair follows the repossession of four of its Boeing 737s to Airborne Capital, which was leasing the aircraft to Flair.

It’s alleged Flair had failed to make payments and had acquired debt.

While the aircraft was meant to be bound for Australia, a spokesperson for Bonza said the change won’t affect the airline’s plans.

“Whilst it was registered VH-UDV, we never took delivery of that specific aircraft and this doesn’t impact any of Bonza’s plans. It’s not uncommon for this to happen as part of fleet planning,” the spokesperson told the AFR.

777 Partners founder Steve Pasko told The Australian Financial Review, the company’s investment in Bonza was down to the success of Flair.

“Prior to the pandemic, we were able to show that we could grow the Canadian market quite substantially by offering fares that were 40 per cent to 50 per cent lower than the incumbents,” Pasko said.

“That’s what drove us to Australia. We think we can do the same thing.”