'Relieved': Bonza lands cheaper flights, despite the teething issues

The inaugural flight from the Gold Coast landed in Mount Isa on December 5 with members from Gold Coast Commerce onboard.

Mayor Danielle Slade, councillor Peta MacRae, council CEO Tim Rose, and Kennedy MP Bob Katter were at the airport to welcome the passengers when the plane touched down.

The council said the collaboration between Bonza, Mount Isa City Council, and Queensland Airports Limited "reflected a shared vision to make air travel more accessible by offering affordable airfares".

Bonza CEO, Tim Jordan said: "We are absolutely thrilled to be delivering a new service to Mount Isa from the Gold Coast with fares starting from $119 per person (one way) and we received a warm welcome from locals on Tuesday at Mount Isa Airport who are eagerly anticipating the opportunity to experience low-cost airfares - many for the first time - and we are grateful for their continued support."

Mayor Danielle Slade said she "was relieved" that cheaper flights were now available to the town's residents.

Cr Slade said ticket cost was one of the biggest challenges facing getting people in and out of Mount Isa.

She said other airlines had services to the town, but the cost was often prohibitive.

"The tyranny of distance nearly killed us," she said.

Despite a discount for residents, Cr Slade said the cost of a ticket was in excess of $400, and was often higher.

The mayor said they had been calling for competitive pricing for Mount Isa fares since the Parliamentary Inquiry into airlines in 2018. It looked into the operation, regulation and funding of air route service delivery to rural, regional and remote communities, and the challenges impeding fairer pricing for those communities.

"We were just asking for it to be reasonable," she said of pricing.

The airline flying into the town was going to make life "so much better here", she said.

"It will definitely make Mount Isa more desirable and affordable."

Kennedy MP Bob Katter said while this was a wonderful thing for the Mount Isa community, there was still a long way to go.

"I have expressed my distaste to the Qantas board in relation to their fare pricing for locals and visitors on numerous occasions," Mr Katter said.

"More needs to be done to achieve affordable pricing, regular and reliable services that connect travel to our regional cities such as Mount Isa, Cairns and Townsville for both locals and visitors."

Commerce North West president Emma Harman said comparing the flights was like comparing apple and oranges.

"I can't be certain about reducing prices on the big carriers because we are comparing apples and oranges, because they're going to Brisbane and technically they're a different route."

Celebrations for the inaugural flight were short-lived as Bonza was forced to cancel the next scheduled flight.

"Bonza had hoped to bring in new aircraft and crew, but the regulations in place have slowed that process down," Ms Harman said.

"I think they assumed by now they would have these extra planes and they don't. I don't think there is uncertainty about the route, I think it's just teething issues while they sort out their capability of having four aircraft to do all the routes they've committed to."

Bonza's CEO said the issues were "regrettable".

"As we've previously shared, in the short term we will use an aircraft leased from our partner Flair at our Gold Coast base whilst we recruit Aussie crew for this third base. This arrangement brings with it a separate regulatory approval process," Mr Jordan said.

"That process is progressing but is not yet complete and, as a result, we've had to make the regrettable decision to cancel flights on December 8 to/from Mount Isa to the Gold Coast."

He said impacted customers were contacted as quickly as possible so they could make alternative arrangements and customers would be automatically offered a full refund.

"We know one cancellation is one too many and that is the operational excellence that we at Bonza are striving hard to achieve for the whole country," Mr Jordan said.

"This is one such occasion and we are not happy or proud about that at all and we deeply apologise for the inconvenience caused, we know how much a cancellation can impact Mount Isa customers and that's why it only happens as an absolute last resort."

Mr Jordan said the big picture goal of bringing equal access to more choice and lower airfares to more Australians "is something that fills us with pride everyday".

Queensland Airports Limited Chief Property and Planning Officer Brian McGuckin said the goal was to connect people, places, and communities. The inaugural flight marked a significant step toward achieving this shared vision.

Ms Harman was on the inaugural flight along with members of the Gold Coast Chamber of Commerce, and said now the chambers from the two towns had met, "I hope we can work together to do an exchange and help promote both our regions".