Bonza (Sunshine Coast) has taken delivery of its fourth aircraft, B737-8 which was handed over in the United States this week and began its ferry flight to Australia, operating Seattle Boeing Field - Honolulu - Nadi on February 14 and 15, 2023.
VH-UKH (msn 61864) will be based at Melbourne Tullamarine and become the first of Bonza's now four-strong fleet to be based outside Maroochydore/Sunshine Coast Airport in southeast Queensland. Bonza CEO Tim Jordan told ch-aviation that a fifth aircraft will arrive in 2Q 2023, also to be based at Melbourne, and revenue passenger operations from that airport are expected to commence in late March or early April.
The 3.34-year-old jet was originally going to LOT Polish Airlines (LO, Warsaw Chopin) but was not taken up. Subsequently, it was among a number of B737 MAX acquired by Bonza's financial backers, 777 Partners. However, ahead of its arrival at Bonza, the 186-seat plane has not operated any passenger flights.
Meanwhile, Bonza operated its second scheduled passenger flight on February 14, with VH-UIK (msn 43975) flying a Maroochydore/Sunshine Coast - Mackay - Maroochydore/Sunshine Coast service. The flights, which contained a mixture of Bonza employees, guests of the airline, and paying passengers were around 85-90% full. Roundtrip flights on this city-pair will be running three times a week by mid-March. On February 16, scheduled Maroochydore/Sunshine Coast - Proserpine - Maroochydore/Sunshine Coast services commence, while next week, scheduled flights to Melbourne Avalon, Rockhampton, and Townsville begin.
