Bonza has been in administration since April 30 this year, after launching in Australia in early 2023.
Administrators Hall Chadwick today said they had not received any firm offers for the sale of Bonza, despite there being several interested parties.
“While this is not the news stakeholders wish to hear, the administrators must make a decision with respect to the stand down of the employees,” Hall Chardwick said in a media update this morning.
“Furthermore, customers need certainty regarding the operation of future flights.
“As a result, the administrators have no option but to terminate all employees and cancel all future flights.
“A meeting with the employees has been held advising them of their termination.”
micenet understands Bonza employees have not been paid for two months.
The airline’s administrators have not ruled out making a sale out of Bonza going forward if a buyer makes an approach.
Meanwhile in other news related to airline collapses in the region, Virgin Australia has secured permission to more than double its flights between Australia and Vanuatu, after Air Vanuatu went into liquidation last month.
Within a day of Air Vanuatu declaring liquidation, Virgin Australia had applied to Australia’s International Air Services Commission to increase its seats to Vanuatu by 1,304 per week.
At the end of May, the commission cleared the way for Virgin to add up seven more flights a week to Vanuatu, starting next month, with three flights between Sydney and Port Villa and two additional flights between Brisbane and Port Villa. Two more services out of Sydney will be added over the Northern Hemisphere winter.
Currently, Virgin offers 880 seats each week on its Vanuatu flights, so the recent approval will increase the airline’s capacity by almost one and a half times.
Qantas has also applied to the commission to increase its flights between Australia and Vanuatu, with the outcome of their submission still pending.
