Earlier this month, Australian low-cost carrier Bonza called upon all Australians to flood its social media accounts to 'nick their nicknames' and choose an ultra-Aussie name for its first aircraft. The comments came flooding in, and the Bonza Local Legends, the airline's ambassadors within the community, voted through a shortlist of the suggestions.
After shuffling through the shortlist, the Bonza Local Legends finally agreed that the various communities would connect better with the name 'Shazza,' which seems to be a popular Aussie nickname. 'Shazza' will be imprinted onto the first Boeing 737 MAX in Bonza's fleet, registered as VH-UJT.
Interestingly, VH-UJT was supposed to be registered as SP-LVO for LOT Polish Airlines but was never adopted by the Polish carrier. Instead, the estimated three-year-old aircraft was delivered to Bonza last month and is currently undergoing a purple refurbishment.
When is Bonza expected to take off?
With a named maiden aircraft and preparations underway to promptly receive the second Boeing 737 MAX, Bonza should launch in October this year. The Australian low-cost carrier is currently based at Sunshine Coast Airport and will operate on a point-to-point business model instead of the hub-and-spoke network like its major Australian airline competitors.
By serving secondary or regional airports, Bonza will focus on under-utilized leisure market routes not overly dominated by competitors, offering ultra-low airfares, without exclusive features such as frequent flyer programs and lounge access to differentiate itself from other carriers further.
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How will Bonza fare within Australia?
Considering the Australian domestic aviation industry isn't too congested with significant low-cost carriers other than Jetstar, Bonza would be the first low-cost carrier launched after the failure of Tiger Airways Australia. Primarily, the domestic industry has long been significantly dominated by the more prominent carriers such as Qantas, QantasLink, Virgin Australia, and Rex.
The rather oligopolistic industry left passengers with few choices and inflexible airfares. It has also made it challenging for prior new entrants, such as Compass Airlines and Impulse, to successfully enter and stay after more than a few years, painting the aviation landscape as seemingly never-changing. But by offering similar fares to that of Jetstar, the launch of Bonza might do well to disrupt the domestic air travel situation within the country,
Not only will Bonza have lesser competition with Jetstar being the only other low-cost carrier, its unique point-to-point and slightly different route network should do well in attracting a solid low-cost base. Hopefully, the launch of Bonza will be the start of a successful airline.