Australian airline Bonza will be placed into liquidation just months after going into involuntary administration.

On Tuesday, administrator Hall Chadwick announced the news following a second meeting of creditors, where it was revealed that they “had not received any offers for the sale” of Bonza.

“The Administrators ran an extensive sales campaign involving numerous investors, other airlines and companies from the travel industry. The Administrators assisted these interested parties, allowing each party to conduct due diligence to help formulate any offer,” a statement given to Mumbrella reads.

“Unfortunately, the Administrators had not received any offers for the sale of the Company business and/or assets at the conclusion of the campaign.

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“The decision to put the Company into liquidation now triggers the Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG), the Federal Government scheme of last resort that provides financial assistance for unpaid employee entitlements in insolvency.”

It was first revealed in April that the low-cost airline had entered involuntary administration after just over 12 months in the air.

Soon after, international aviation consultant, Neil Hansford, said the news came as no surprise.

“The business model was unlikely to work in Australia,” he stated bluntly, pointing to start-up costs, coupled with the “problem of trying to provide an all- leisure airline on routes that are fundamentally too thin, with an aircraft that was 180 seats” – and a new aircraft at that.

“Very few airlines when they’ve started in the low cost area, have started with brand new aircraft with a reputational problem that the 737- 8 had, in a market where Qantas and Virgin are not going to sit back and watch somebody eat their lunch,” Hansford said.

In May, 280 Bonza employees were told that most staffers would be stood down without being paid for the work they did throughout April.

The liquidators – Richard Albarran, Kathleen Vouris, Brent Kijurina and Cameron Shaw – will now continue with investigations and report findings to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), and “will then consider any future action and claims that are able to be
pursued for the benefit of creditors”.

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