Townsville Airport is excited to be expanding its network, with Bonza’s inaugural flight from SunshineCoast touching down this morning, followed by the first return service between Townsville and Rockhampton later this week.

The new Sunshine Coast-Townsville and Townsville-Rockhampton services link these regions directly to Townsville for the first time and provide excellent value for money, with flights starting from between $49 and $69 per person one way.

Bonza’s Townsville-Sunshine Coast service will operate four return services per week, offering more than 77,000 seats between the two regions each year, while the Townsville-Rockhampton service will operate three return services a week.

The airline is set to launch an additional route, to Toowoomba Wellcamp, which will fly between the tworegions twice weekly and build on what is already a strong aviation link for Townsville Airport. The Townsville-Toowoomba Wellcamp route is expected to go on sale this week.

“The fact that Townsville Airport was one of Bonza’s first flights, shows the importance of North Queensland and the opportunity this region represents, which also reflects our confidence in future growth for the airport,” Queensland Airports Limited CEO Amelia Evans said.

The service touched down into a newly transformed Townsville Airport, with recently completed upgrades to the security screening zone, check-in areas and adjoining retail space, ready for the first Bonza passengers to arrive.

The new Townsville-Sunshine Coast route is expected to be popular among holidaymakers and families, building on the airport’s busiest route, between Townsville and Brisbane.

“More than one million passengers are already flying between Townsville and Brisbane each year, and that number continues to build – this new link between North and South-East Queensland will provide our customers and community another option,” Ms Evans said.

“We also expect the new Townsville-Rockhampton route will be particularly popular with friends and family travellers, looking to connect with loved ones more easily.”

Bonza CEO Tim Jordan, who flew with customers onboard both new routes today, said the introduction of two brand new routes from Townsville comes at a time where demand is at an all time high for Aussies to explore their own backyard.

“Bonza is all about opening up new markets for regional tourism destinations like Townsville, the Sunshine Coast, Rockhampton and Toowoomba,” Mr Jordan said.

“We’re thrilled to connect friends and family on these routes by making air travel affordable to the many. We encourage Aussies to take the opportunity to explore Townsville’s many attractions like snorkelling off the Great Barrier Reef, relaxing on Magnetic Island and checking out the city’s entertainment and restaurant scene,” Mr Jordan said.

Townsville Mayor Cr Jenny Hill said Bonza’s new services between Townsville-Sunshine Coast, and eventually Rockhampton and Toowoomba Wellcamp, will play a significant role in ensuring Townsville is an attractive place to visit, work and live.

“Bonza’s services to Townsville will be a massive boom to the Townsville tourism industry, with significant flow-on effects to the rest of the economy,” Cr Hill said.

“People from the Sunshine Coast and Rockhampton, and soon Toowoomba, will have an affordable option to experience everything Townsville and North Queensland have to offer.“

"It also means that Townsville residents with friends and family elsewhere in regional Queensland have a new budget offering, allowing them to stay in touch and not having to part with so much of their hard earned cash.”

Townsville Airport is operating at 91 per cent pre-COVID passenger numbers, with more than 1.4 million passengers passing through the terminal last year.

Bonza's Townsville-Rockhampton route is set to take off on Friday 24 February.

ENDS.