Bonza cancels Darwin-Gold Coast route for December, blames regulatory approval issues

Bonza has thrown many Christmas plans into disarray after it cancelled all flights between Darwin and the Gold Coast for the entire month, blaming regulatory approval processes for the cancellation.

The carrier says flights between the airports will now commence on 2 January 2024.

“As we’ve previously shared our Gold Coast base is due to be operated by our partner Flair in the short term whilst we recruit Aussie crew for our third base,”  CEO, Bonza, Tim Jordan, said.

“This arrangement brings with it separate regulatory approval process with CASA [the Civil Aviation Safety Authority].

“That process is progressing but is not yet complete and as a result, we’ve had to make the regrettable decision to defer some flights between Gold Coast and Darwin in the coming weeks.

“We are acutely aware of the impact this has on our customers and we are very sorry for this.”

1600 passengers have been impacted by the sudden cancellations, 1,100 of whom have been offered flights to the Sunshine Coast as an alternate option.

“Customers will be contacted by us in date order (based on their date of travel with the first date being December 1) and do not need to contact Bonza,” Jordan, said.

“We will work through refunds or some limited options to move to flights to/from the Sunshine Coast however this process may take some time.”

Bonza burst out of the gates after its official launch earlier this year, promising to deliver new, low-cost routes to domestic travellers in Australia.

The carrier has delivered on its promises for the most part, although was forced to axe five routes earlier this year and now failed to take off on its scheduled date for this new route.

It would seem there’s still much to learn for the Flying Purple Thumb.