Get packing! A new airline is making it even easier to go rural
<p dir="ltr">Budget airline Bonza has revealed where it will be landing and taking off from as part of its ‘Here for Allstralia’ campaign.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Having said it wouldn’t be competing with fellow budget airlines Jetstar and Rex for capital city routes, Bonza announced it would be offering 25 routes across regional Australia.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The airline, which was first introduced in 2021, still requires regulatory approval before it can begin hitting the skies, but is expected to take-off from the middle of this year.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Since announcing Bonza to the world late last year, we’ve always said we wouldn’t just fly between Australia’s three largest cities and instead give people in the regions more choice,” Tim Jordan, Bonza’s CEO and former Virgin Blue executive, said in a media release.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Mr Jordan said the announcement also came as the “largest” in “Australian aviation history”.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“With destinations ranging from Albury to the Whitsundays, travellers will now be able to fly, instead of impossibly long road trips, as well as fly direct without a stopover in a major city,” he said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Aussies can look forward to spending more time at their destination and spending less of their hard earned cash getting there in the first place.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Bonza has said that 80 percent of the initial route network will be heading to previously unserved locations, opening up air travel to even more Aussies in even more locations.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The airline is also opening up its recruitment, offering jobs for 200 pilots and cabin crew who were laid off during the pandemic to work at its Sunshine Coast and Melbourne posts.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“It’s hard not to have witnessed the devastating impact of the pandemic on many talented pilots and cabin crew,” Mr Jordan <a href="https://7news.com.au/travel/air-aviation/new-airline-bonza-seeking-200-workers-c-6272113" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“It’s our hope we can provide roles and development opportunities to some of those impacted.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">With at least 8500 workers laid off or made redundant from Qantas alone and a third of Virgin’s staff cut to avoid voluntary administration, it’s safe to say Bonza will be seeing their vacancies filled quickly.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The full list of destinations includes:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>VIC</strong></p>
</li>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="2">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Avalon</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="2">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Melbourne</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="2">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Mildura</p>
</li>
</ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>NSW</strong></p>
</li>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="2">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Albury</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="2">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Newcastle</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="2">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Port Macquarie</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="2">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Coffs Harbour</p>
</li>
</ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>QLD</strong></p>
</li>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="2">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Bundaberg</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="2">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Cairns</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="2">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Mackay</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="2">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Gladstone</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="2">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Toowoomba Wellcamp</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="2">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Sunshine Coast</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="2">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Whitsunday Coast</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="2">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Townsville</p>
</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-dbc68380-7fff-6dd8-de8b-3885ae16a79e"></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Bonza</em></p>
