Approximately 70‚000 customers - almost double the Whitsunday Coast’s population - has flown to and from the Queensland tourism hotspot with Australia’s newest and only independent airline Bonza.

Bonza brought low-cost air travel to the Whitsundays in January last year for its first ever flight from the Sunshine Coast‚ which was quickly followed by direct connections to Newcastle and the Gold Coast.

“On behalf of team Bonza‚ we are grateful the Whitsunday Coast community has embraced our mission to connect more Aussies to their backyard than ever before by booking a Bonza flight and getting out and about‚” said Tim Jordan‚ CEO at Bonza.

“We want to democratise air travel in Australia so that everyone has the opportunity to access affordable flights and what we’re hearing from customers is that because they’ve saved through Bonza’s low-cost airfares they in turn have more money to spend whilst on holidays in tourism destinations like the Whitsunday Coast‚ which has an immediate benefit to locals and their communities.”

“With fares starting from $59 per person (one way) we’re delighted more Aussie travellers are discovering this magical Queensland destination‚ opening up opportunities in each direction for more tourism and trade.

Craig Turner‚ Director Commercial Business at Whitsunday Coast Airport‚ welcomed the milestone.

“The additional 70‚000 passengers from Bonza has been the catalyst for Whitsunday Coast Airport to be on track for another record-breaking year. We anticipate 540‚000 passengers to transit through the airport by the end of this financial year‚ which will see an increase of 13 per cent‚” said Mr Turner.

“Sunshine Coast and Mackay are both beautiful in their own right and are steeped in history that dates back to the pioneering days‚ but they are also iconic destinations given that one is known as Australia’s sugar capital and the other as Australia’s pineapple capital‚” Mr Brodie said.

“This wouldn’t be possible without the additional three routes that Bonza services and we look forward to our continued work and increasing our destinations with them.”