Transport Minister Catherine King says it is unlikely budget airline Bonza will make a financial comeback after the regional budget airline plunged into voluntary administration on Tuesday.
Thousands of travellers were left stranded and confused after a former business partner of the embattled airline abruptly repossessed all of five of its Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes in Australia overnight, taking passengers and the airline by surprise.
Ms King said her department would continue assisting passengers stranded mid-journey but shot down hopes of a government bailout for the company.
“The administrators, we have been speaking to them overnight, they’re trying to get the airline back up and running. I think they have got to look at the books a fair bit. It’s unlikely that will happen,” Ms King told ABC on Wednesday.
Leading accountancy firm Hall Chadwick will act as the airline’s administrator and determine whether the airliner has a viable future in Australia’s tight airline market.
Ms King said the customer situation remained her department’s chief priority, urging passengers who have found themselves stuck at a regional hub to ring her office’s hotline – that will be operational until 10pm on Wednesday night.
“I was concerned that people weren’t able to get a person to talk to so I stood up my department hotline which is still operating this morning at 1800 069 244,” Ms King told ABC.
“I got public servants in my department just so people have someone to talk to, so they can get information about how to get on a Virgin, Qantas or Jetstar flight. Virgin, Qantas and Jetstar have frankly been magnificent.”
“If you’re in a regional centre you may need to get to a hub where they fly out of, but certainly that hotline is available today.”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers described the downfall of the low-cost regional airline as “disappointing”
“I feel for any stranded passengers, that’s one of the reasons why the Transport Minister with her usual level of diligence has made sure she’s been speaking to the other airlines to make sure that we can try to get people home where they are stuck,” he told ABC RN earlier.
“This is a very unfortunate set of events for the workers at that company and also for people who are stuck.”