The_SingingAvgeek
Active member
After seeing JJ Skippy's fantastically detailed histories of various US airlines in 1:400 scale, I thought that I would go through Bonza's history in the scale.
But first a little history of Bonza.
Bonza first broke into the Australian aviation scene in October 2021 introducing themselves as a ULCC similar to the likes of Ryanair and would avoid the "Golden Triangle" of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. At first, like most in the Australian Aviation community I was skeptical, but they kept coming out with updates and in February 2022, they announced their initial route network with their main base at Sunshine Coast Airport and a secondary base at Melbourne Tullamarine International.
They said that they would fly from the Sunshine Coast to Albury, Avalon, Cairns, Coffs Harbour, Mackay, Mildura, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Rockhampton, Tamworth, Townsville, and the Whitsunday Coast (Proserpine). They would fly from Melbourne to Bundaberg, Gladstone, Mackay, Mildura, Port Macquarie, Rockhampton, the Sunshine Coast, Tamworth and Toowoomba (Wellcamp). As well as these routes they also announced services between; Cairns and Mackay and Rockhampton, Newcastle and Proserpine, Rockhampton and Townsville and, Toowoomba and Proserpine and Townsville.
In August, they came one big step closer to operating when their first 737 MAX-8 (VH-UJT "Shazza" was delivered to the Sunshine Coast. And steadily over the coming months, 3 followed (VH-UIK "Bazza," VH-UJK "Sheila," and VH-UKH "Malc").
VH-UIK arriving at Melbourne on the 11th of August 2023 as AB1010 from Gladstone.
VH-UJT at Gold Coast Airport leaving for Albury as AB1689 on the 27th of April 2024, just 3 days before Administration.
VH-UKH arriving at Gold Coast Airport in December 2023.
In early January they finally got their AOC from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and flights went on sale shortly after with the first flight being AB777 from the Sunshine Coast to Proserpine on the 31st of January.
In July 2023, Bonza announced that it would cut 5 routes; Sunshine Coast to Port Macquarie, Tamworth and Coffs Harbour, Toowoomba to Proserpine and Cairns to Mackay.
Then just 1 month later, I woke up to the very exciting news that Bonza had chosen its third base to be the Gold Coast (my local airport) with flights to Albury, Bundaberg, Cairns, Gladstone, Mackay, Melbourne (Avalon), Melbourne (Tullamarine), Mildura, Rockhampton, Townsville and Proserpine with the inaugural being Gold Coast-Townsville on the 15th of November which I was fortunate enough to be on.
In late August, Bonza announced Gold Coast to Launceston flights marking the airline's entry into our southern most state, Tasmania. And in September Bonza also announced Gold Coast to Mount Isa, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast to Darwin in the Northern Territory, and Melbourne to Alice Springs (also in the Northern Territory).
In November, 2 Boeing 737 MAX-8s leased from Bonza's sister airline Flair (C-FLHI "Bruce" and C-FLKC "Matilda") had arrived at Gold Coast Airport to operate the Gold Coast flights following the inaugural which was on VH-UIK, however due to CASA being CASA, the approval for Flair to operate was delayed and only given a few days before Christmas 2023, so Nauru Airlines leased their 737-300s (VH-PNI and VH-XNU), their 737-700 (VH-INU) and their 737-800 (VH-AN2) to cover the flights. And in March, C-FLKC went back over to Canada to get maintenance before it was supposed to come back over painted in Bonza colours and on the Australian register but never came back, and C-FLHI went to the Sunshine Coast to become VH-8AV but never did.
C-FLHI arriving at Gold Coast Airport from Launceston as AB1756 on Australia Day 2024.
C-FLKC sitting at Gold Coast Airport after arriving from Calgary via Honolulu the night prior.
And sadly on the 30th of April 2024, all of Bonza's flights had been cancelled as their aircraft had been repossessed by their owners who just happened to be a subsidiary of Bonza's parent company and Bonza never flew again as on the 2nd of July 2024, the day after my 20th, Bonza's creditors voted to liquidate the company after no buyer was found.
VH-UJK sitting at Gold Coast Airport on the 30th of April 2024 after being repossessed.
Now it's time to take a look through all the Bonza models made in 1:400 scale as well as the one 1:200 scale release.
The first company to release a Bonza aircraft was NG in February 2023 with VH-UIK and VH-UJT (Bazza and Shazza respectively), with NG following with VH-UJK (Sheila) in July 2023. Gemini also released VH-UJK 2 months later in September 2023. The final of the 4 aircraft in full Bonza colours to be released was VH-UKH (Malc) which Phoenix brought out in October 2023. Gemini followed with VH-UJK in 1:200 scale in December 2023. The final Bonza model released was C-FLKC (Matilda) in September 2024. There is one Bonza that was in service that hasn't been released yet and that's C-FLHI (Bruce).
All five Bonzas in my collection. Back Row: VH-UJT. Middle Row: VH-UIK (right), VH-UJK (left). Front Row: VH-UKH (left), C-FLKC (right).
There were also 2 more MAXes that were "delivered" to Bonza but never entered service and flew to Tucson Arizona instead of heading west over the Pacific to come here (VH-UBI and VH-UJZ) and they went to Enter Air of Poland wearing a hybrid Bonza livery just without the Bonza titles on the forward fuselage. These are now in full Enter Air colours. It would be good if these 2 were also released, so that every single aircraft to wear Bonza's beautiful purple livery are forever immortalised. Bonza also had VH-UDV, VH-UMQ, VH-UNN, VH-UQI and VH-UQP on order but they all weren't taken up and went elsewhere.
VH-UBI at Tucson still with LOT winglets. Photo by Javier Rodriguez on Airhistory.com
VH-UJZ also at Tucson. Photo by Fabio Boeckli on Airhistory.com
Now UIK, UJK, UJT and UKH are over in Poland with LOT who they were supposed to go to before the 2019 grounding of the MAX.
Even though Bonza was only around for 15 months, they still made a profound impact on the Australian Aviation landscape and proved that people did want to fly a lot of the routes they operated (especially the Albury routes), and they brought a little bit of colour to our Red, White, and Grey skies.
Bonza 2021-2024, "Here for Allstralia."
*All photos except for VH-UBI and VH-UJZ are mine.
But first a little history of Bonza.
Bonza first broke into the Australian aviation scene in October 2021 introducing themselves as a ULCC similar to the likes of Ryanair and would avoid the "Golden Triangle" of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. At first, like most in the Australian Aviation community I was skeptical, but they kept coming out with updates and in February 2022, they announced their initial route network with their main base at Sunshine Coast Airport and a secondary base at Melbourne Tullamarine International.
They said that they would fly from the Sunshine Coast to Albury, Avalon, Cairns, Coffs Harbour, Mackay, Mildura, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Rockhampton, Tamworth, Townsville, and the Whitsunday Coast (Proserpine). They would fly from Melbourne to Bundaberg, Gladstone, Mackay, Mildura, Port Macquarie, Rockhampton, the Sunshine Coast, Tamworth and Toowoomba (Wellcamp). As well as these routes they also announced services between; Cairns and Mackay and Rockhampton, Newcastle and Proserpine, Rockhampton and Townsville and, Toowoomba and Proserpine and Townsville.
In August, they came one big step closer to operating when their first 737 MAX-8 (VH-UJT "Shazza" was delivered to the Sunshine Coast. And steadily over the coming months, 3 followed (VH-UIK "Bazza," VH-UJK "Sheila," and VH-UKH "Malc").
VH-UIK arriving at Melbourne on the 11th of August 2023 as AB1010 from Gladstone.
VH-UJT at Gold Coast Airport leaving for Albury as AB1689 on the 27th of April 2024, just 3 days before Administration.
VH-UKH arriving at Gold Coast Airport in December 2023.
In early January they finally got their AOC from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and flights went on sale shortly after with the first flight being AB777 from the Sunshine Coast to Proserpine on the 31st of January.
In July 2023, Bonza announced that it would cut 5 routes; Sunshine Coast to Port Macquarie, Tamworth and Coffs Harbour, Toowoomba to Proserpine and Cairns to Mackay.
Then just 1 month later, I woke up to the very exciting news that Bonza had chosen its third base to be the Gold Coast (my local airport) with flights to Albury, Bundaberg, Cairns, Gladstone, Mackay, Melbourne (Avalon), Melbourne (Tullamarine), Mildura, Rockhampton, Townsville and Proserpine with the inaugural being Gold Coast-Townsville on the 15th of November which I was fortunate enough to be on.
In late August, Bonza announced Gold Coast to Launceston flights marking the airline's entry into our southern most state, Tasmania. And in September Bonza also announced Gold Coast to Mount Isa, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast to Darwin in the Northern Territory, and Melbourne to Alice Springs (also in the Northern Territory).
In November, 2 Boeing 737 MAX-8s leased from Bonza's sister airline Flair (C-FLHI "Bruce" and C-FLKC "Matilda") had arrived at Gold Coast Airport to operate the Gold Coast flights following the inaugural which was on VH-UIK, however due to CASA being CASA, the approval for Flair to operate was delayed and only given a few days before Christmas 2023, so Nauru Airlines leased their 737-300s (VH-PNI and VH-XNU), their 737-700 (VH-INU) and their 737-800 (VH-AN2) to cover the flights. And in March, C-FLKC went back over to Canada to get maintenance before it was supposed to come back over painted in Bonza colours and on the Australian register but never came back, and C-FLHI went to the Sunshine Coast to become VH-8AV but never did.
C-FLHI arriving at Gold Coast Airport from Launceston as AB1756 on Australia Day 2024.
C-FLKC sitting at Gold Coast Airport after arriving from Calgary via Honolulu the night prior.
And sadly on the 30th of April 2024, all of Bonza's flights had been cancelled as their aircraft had been repossessed by their owners who just happened to be a subsidiary of Bonza's parent company and Bonza never flew again as on the 2nd of July 2024, the day after my 20th, Bonza's creditors voted to liquidate the company after no buyer was found.
VH-UJK sitting at Gold Coast Airport on the 30th of April 2024 after being repossessed.
Now it's time to take a look through all the Bonza models made in 1:400 scale as well as the one 1:200 scale release.
The first company to release a Bonza aircraft was NG in February 2023 with VH-UIK and VH-UJT (Bazza and Shazza respectively), with NG following with VH-UJK (Sheila) in July 2023. Gemini also released VH-UJK 2 months later in September 2023. The final of the 4 aircraft in full Bonza colours to be released was VH-UKH (Malc) which Phoenix brought out in October 2023. Gemini followed with VH-UJK in 1:200 scale in December 2023. The final Bonza model released was C-FLKC (Matilda) in September 2024. There is one Bonza that was in service that hasn't been released yet and that's C-FLHI (Bruce).
All five Bonzas in my collection. Back Row: VH-UJT. Middle Row: VH-UIK (right), VH-UJK (left). Front Row: VH-UKH (left), C-FLKC (right).
There were also 2 more MAXes that were "delivered" to Bonza but never entered service and flew to Tucson Arizona instead of heading west over the Pacific to come here (VH-UBI and VH-UJZ) and they went to Enter Air of Poland wearing a hybrid Bonza livery just without the Bonza titles on the forward fuselage. These are now in full Enter Air colours. It would be good if these 2 were also released, so that every single aircraft to wear Bonza's beautiful purple livery are forever immortalised. Bonza also had VH-UDV, VH-UMQ, VH-UNN, VH-UQI and VH-UQP on order but they all weren't taken up and went elsewhere.
VH-UBI at Tucson still with LOT winglets. Photo by Javier Rodriguez on Airhistory.com
VH-UJZ also at Tucson. Photo by Fabio Boeckli on Airhistory.com
Now UIK, UJK, UJT and UKH are over in Poland with LOT who they were supposed to go to before the 2019 grounding of the MAX.
Even though Bonza was only around for 15 months, they still made a profound impact on the Australian Aviation landscape and proved that people did want to fly a lot of the routes they operated (especially the Albury routes), and they brought a little bit of colour to our Red, White, and Grey skies.
Bonza 2021-2024, "Here for Allstralia."
*All photos except for VH-UBI and VH-UJZ are mine.
