👉 Background: Bonza is the Australian airline that officially launched in January 2023. Its main differentiator is offering passengers flights to regional areas. Think: flights to Toowoomba, Gladstone and Albury rather than Sydney or Brisbane.

👉 What happened: But now, just 15 months after launch, Bonza’s investors and funders have brought in a restructuring firm, KordaMentha, to provide them with advice about Bonza's ongoing operations.  

👉 What else: 777 Partners, Bonza's majority shareholder has just had a major debt facility pulled from underneath them. This means they might struggle to continue funding the future operations of Bonza by themselves.

What's the key learning?

💡 In capital-intensive industries like aviation, having a clear investment plan is crucial.

💡Bonza is aiming to penetrate a highly competitive market, so it needs to invest a LOT of capital for expansion. That includes investment in new planes, staff and also marketing - particularly marketing - they launched with a marketing message as the “bogan” airline, which was a major fail.

💡 Bonza had been expecting its funding to come from its private equity owner 777 Partners, but 777 Partners has made some unexpected moves that would have the Bonza crew feeling quite uneasy:

• In July last year, 777 Partners explored an option to sell a stake in Bonza to fund new expansion.
• They’re being chased in court for a $30m USD payment;
• Their major funding partner has just withdrawn its credit facility
• They're focused on acquiring Everton soccer club in the EPL