New 'Bonza' LCC launches middle 2022 with B737 MAX

[Ascend Charlie]

Qantas boss Alan Joyce says the airline will respond fiercely to new start-up carrier Bonza’s attempts to break into the domestic aviation market, while questioning its ability to find new routes that are currently unserved by incumbent carriers.

Awww, good onya Leprechaun, "we will defend our turf" he says.

[PoppaJo]

He can talk the talk, still remains to be seen if the passenger demand even exists though.

Vimeo

[Icarus2001]

Oh dear.

He referenced Tiger being bought by Virgin as a loss of the only independent LCC. He did not mention that they could not make money.

I gave up after five minutes.

Good luck but I have a bad feeling.

Edit; I went back to finish watching. “Airports are the single biggest cost”….really?

[MickG0105]

Originally Posted by PoppaJo

He can talk the talk, still remains to be seen if the passenger demand even exists though.

https://vimeo.com/655960388

I was left with the very distinct impression that he thought that it was "fantastic" to be there. He should probably acquaint himself with the literal meaning of the word as it is quite likely relevant to their business model.

[SHVC]

This guys is way off the mark! Comparing Australia to the U.S which has a population 15 times us.
They’re suppose to be starting Q2 this yr! Shouldn’t they be up to employment, maybe proving flights etc?

[PoppaJo]

If the population here was 40/50m, then sure, he just might be able to to make it work. But even if it was, the incumbents would already have expanded and catered to that market.

The CCO here has worked at both Tiger and Jetstar in commercial and would have a good understanding of the profit pool available and where it is. Yet they are jumping into 90% of routes that are underserved or not served, with zero knowledge of the profit pool on these markets.

Tiger did try a few of these regional low frequency markets like Alice, Mackay and Rocky directs from down south. Couldn’t get the demand.

[43Inches]

He referenced Tiger being bought by Virgin as a loss of the only independent LCC. He did not mention that they could not make money.

Virgin paid $1 for Tiger, at the same time the owner, Singapore airlines (also an owner of Virgin at the time) gave $100 million in finance to Virgin to sure up its operating margins. That means Singapore effectively paid Virgin $100,000,000 to take Tiger off their hands, so as far as being a successful or even independent airline, is very debatable. The only airline transaction that seemed to net at least someone some net gains was Sky West, both with the sale of a dying entity as well as a lucrative leasing arrangement for a number of aircraft (mainly ATRs).

And as said above, anyone who compares the Australian domestic market to the US has been sniffing some sort of fumes for too long.

If the population here was 40/50m

Even if that was the case, without major structural changes to how Australians live most of those would still live in the same places, the major cities. You need to build up regional centers to populations of at least 500,000 for secondary and tertiary airlines to be able to thrive on these alternate routes. You cant even run a jet from Bendigo or Ballarat to Sydney yet profitably and that's two of the top ten population centers in regional Australia.

[Icarus2001]

Perhaps they will make their fortune flying Busselton - Melbourne or Sydney - Broome?

[PoppaJo]

Originally Posted by Icarus2001

Perhaps they will make their fortune flying Busselton - Melbourne or Sydney - Broome?

Thats only two. He said with 8 aircraft, 3/4 weekly he can serve 40 odd of these underrated routes.

40!

The largest regional areas with a local airport capable of taking a 737.

1. Gold Coast
2. Newcastle
3. Sunshine Coast
4. Geelong/Avalon
5. Townsville
6. Cairns
7. Toowoomba
8. Launceston
9. Mackay
10. Rockhampton

They all pretty much have fairly solid point to point routes as it is.

[43Inches]

I have to laugh at that list, Jetstar cant even operate Avalon/Sydney without subsidies, and that's a huge entity with market power to reduce cost per seat. None of the others would support a 737 on a frequency basis that would pay down the fixed op costs. Even if you said they hopped between destinations to keep utilisation high the truth is the main load factors all occurr at similar times and the rest of the week will be losses and marking time.

[Alice Kiwican]

Originally Posted by PoppaJo

Thats only two. He said with 8 aircraft, 3/4 weekly he can serve 40 odd of these underrated routes.

40!

The largest regional areas with a local airport capable of taking a 737.

1. Gold Coast
2. Newcastle
3. Sunshine Coast
4. Geelong/Avalon
5. Townsville
6. Cairns
7. Toowoomba
8. Launceston
9. Mackay
10. Rockhampton

They all pretty much have fairly solid point to point routes as it is.

Could you add Alice Springs to that list? Population wise probably not classed as large but it’s a major regional hub geographically

[PoppaJo]

Alice is about 35k, has around 5 flights a day. You really need foreign tourists to help that one work, Jetstar are direct into Ayers Rock now also. Tiger tried Alice from all major capitals, couldn’t get the demand high enough.

However Alice has high airport costs which goes against what the bloke above was talking about.

[Deano969]

So let's have a try at some routes that could support 2-4 returns per week
Sunny Coast to Hobart, Launceston or Perth
Sydney or Melbourne to Mackay, Rockhampton or Bundy
Gold Coast to Darwin
Coffs, Port Maq, Ballina to Adelaide
Hervey Bay to Melbourne
Broome, Port Headland, Kalgoorlie, Brusselton to Sydney or Melbourne
There's 25
Starting to get thin after this or routes already served

[SHVC]

I thought they were avoiding Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide and maybe Darwin as they’re major hubs and to expensive.

[Deano969]

Not possible to avoid Capitals one would think
If Capitals were out of the equation, what's left wouldn't even half fill a SAAB

[Hamley]

Originally Posted by PoppaJo

He can talk the talk

He comes across as nervous especially before he gets rolling. Ummmmm. Overall not very genuine feeling sales pitch to me. Ummmm.

That purple and thumbs up logo is ugly as hell.

[Buster Hyman]

Originally Posted by Deano969

If Capitals were out of the equation, what's left wouldn't even half fill a SAAB

I assume you mean the car.

[hyg]

I would have thought an operation like the US regional using smaller jets would've been much most cost-effective if they are looking to tap the regional markets while avoiding the big cities... but what would I know

[Bumble_Pilot]

Originally Posted by hyg

I would have thought an operation like the US regional using smaller jets would've been much most cost-effective if they are looking to tap the regional markets while avoiding the big cities... but what would I know

maybe using the Max to try and and sell out to Virgin in a couple of years for a seamless transition?

[PPRuNeUser0198]

Originally Posted by PoppaJo

He can talk the talk, still remains to be seen if the passenger demand even exists though.

https://vimeo.com/655960388

If that presentation is anything to go by - they might be in big trouble. Very little substance. Crass commentry. Looked very unprepared. Quite a turn-off actually.