Low-cost airline Bonza is set to make the Gold Coast its third Aussie base in a massive boost to the city’s tourism sector.
The move is also a big win for Gold Coast holidaymakers with cheap fares to a range of destinations locals haven’t been able to fly directly to before.
Bonza will base two of its aircraft on the Coast from November, delivering up to 70 additional flights every week.
The airline will launch eight new routes between the Gold Coast and Albury, Bundaberg, Gladstone, Mackay, Mildura, Whitsunday Coast, Townsville and Mildura.
It will also service existing routes to Cairns, Melbourne Avalon and Melbourne Tullamarine.
Bonza CEO Tim Jordan says we can expect to see even more routes in the future.
Flights will start going on sale later this week starting at just $49 one way.
“We’ll be adding new destinations to our route map that will fly from the Gold Coast and we continue to welcome conversations with airports around the country as we fulfil our mission to connect communities.
“Our focus continues to be on unserved and underserved markets that we know would benefit from low-cost flights,” Mr Jordan said.
The move is expected to inject $100 million into the Gold Coast economy each year.
“Not only will Bonza bring more tourists to the Gold Coast and Northern New South Wales region, giving our destination an opportunity to showcase our region, it will also open up connections for our locals to connect with loved ones across regional Australia,” Queensland Airports CEO Amelia Evans said.
“Many of these routes are new to our network and they’re also very competitively priced which is great news for our customers and for visitors to our region.”
