Bonza no es una amenaza para las aerolíneas heredadas, dice el CEO Tim Jordan

Speaking to the Australian Aviation podcast, which you can listen to above, Jordan said, “We may get the odd customer who happens to fortuitously find that, on a Tuesday, we happen to be flying between the Sunshine Coast and Mildura, and that may happen to coincide with their plans.

“If they happen to live on the Sunshine Coast and want to transit normally via Melbourne, then we may see that customer rather than somebody else.

“However, I think the chances of that happening are pretty few and far between. More likely, what we’re seeing is we are generating new traffic because all of a sudden, friends and family, from whether it’s the Sunshine Coast or Mildura, can actually get to see each other – or perhaps if you’re in Mildura, you want to head to the beach, up to Queensland, or vice versa, head back home to Mildura.”

Bonza es el primer operador australiano en intentar volar los llamados servicios de ocio "punto a punto" que omiten las principales ciudades y permiten a los consumidores volar directamente de un destino de vacaciones a otro destino de vacaciones.

La empresa ha dicho que el 93 por ciento de su red final, 25 de sus 27 rutas, actualmente no las realiza ninguna otra aerolínea, mientras que el 96 por ciento no cuenta con el servicio de ninguna otra aerolínea de bajo costo. Sin embargo, muchos operadores tradicionales han argumentado que su modelo no funcionaría en Australia.

Jordan stressed that Bonza’s model involves looking for new markets rather than attempting to go toe-to-toe with legacy carriers on routes such as the Sydney-Melbourne-Brisbane “golden triangle”.

“We are about market growth. And I think ultimately, in the numbers, what we will see as an industry [will be] a net increase in growth, probably at or about the number of customers that Bonza is carrying,” he said.

“We’re not about shuffling existing [passengers] between one carrier and another carrier, we are about market growth. So I don’t think any carriers are seeing any impact to their bottom line by what we’re doing in the market.”

Chief commercial officer Carly Povey said the airline has “earned the right to grow”.

“Our focus now is firmly on improving our operations, earning the respect of customers, and then, we will continue to add new routes and a third base to continue our mission of connecting communities across Australia,” she said.