Bonza enters voluntary administration after abruptly cancelling flights

Budget airline Bonza is navigating an uncertain future after flights were suddenly cancelled and its fleet reportedly repossessed.

Budget airline Bonza launched in January 2023 with 27 routes. Source: AAP / Peter Wallace

Budget airline Bonza has entered voluntary administration after it left hundreds of travellers stranded at major airports across the country.

On Tuesday morning, Bonza passengers departing the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Avalon arrived to find their flights cancelled.

Bonza CEO Tim Jordan said the move was "temporary" and discussions were "underway regarding the ongoing viability of the business".

But it emerged on Tuesday afternoon that external administrators Hall Chadwick had been appointed, according to documents filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Bonza CEO Tim Jordan told a Senate committee in September 2023 that "the concentration of the aviation sector is extreme". Source: AAP / Lukas Coch

Jordan also confirmed to staff that the airline's fleet of Boeing 737-Max aeroplanes had been repossessed, The Guardian reported.

Minister warns Bonza to 'keep passengers informed'

Earlier on Tuesday, Federal Transport Minister Catherine King said she was aware of the flight cancellations.

"I have spoken to Qantas and Virgin CEOs this morning and both airlines stand ready to assist stranded passengers needing to get home," she said.

King added that her department had told Bonza the airline must "keep passengers informed of their options and their consumer rights."

Transport Minister Catherine King has warned Bonza about its obligations to its customers. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch

"My department is in the process of establishing a hotline for stranded passengers and we will get that number out to media as quickly as we can," she said.

Michael Kaine, the national secretary of the Transport Workers' Union, said passengers and workers would pay the price of Bonza's crisis.

He added: "This is a very large island. Aviation is critical infrastructure and we've got an aviation industry that's broken.

"Today, we have got passengers left stranded again and workers with their jobs on the line yet again. It's Ansett, it's Virgin getting back in the air by the skin of its teeth, and now we got this company trying to do the right thing who is in the lurch and it's because this aviation sector is broken, it's a market that's broken."

Australia's newest carrier launched in January 2023 with 27 routes to 17 destinations.

It operates Boeing 737-Max-8 planes and is backed by 777 Partners, an investment group based in Miami, Florida.

The Sunshine Coast-based company was forced to cut five routes in July, as it ran into turbulence less than six months after taking off.

With the Australian Associated Press.