iscover
The office of Transport Minister Catherine King has set up a hotline to assist passengers affected by the grounding of Bonza flights.
Speaking to media, the minister advised stranded Bonza customers to contact her office on 1800 069 244, with the hotline expected to be operational until 10pm on Tuesday. Qantas, Virgin and Rex have all offered assistance to affected passengers.
“If people are stuck at regional airports where [Qantas and Virgin] don’t fly, Rex has made the offer also to assist if they are available and have got seats available,” said Minister King.
“They obviously don’t fly in all of the areas of Virgin, but there may be circumstances where people are stuck that they’re going to need to make their way to the nearest hub where Virgin and Qantas do fly out of.”
The minister said her department had spoken with Bonza this morning following the shock announcement that all its flights for Tuesday had been cancelled during discussions on the ongoing viability of the airline and had asked Bonza not to sell any more tickets until there was more certainty about the continuity of its operations.
“We understand that there are further discussions underway at the board level as we speak. We are seeking regular updates from them, but at this stage, the information we have about what is happening with Bonza is somewhat limited,” said Minister King.
“We have made it very clear to Bonza that our expectations are that they inform passengers about what their options are, what changes are being made, and that they respect their consumer rights, of which they do have some.
“The government’s first priority, obviously right at this point in time, is making sure that stranded Australians can get home and to do so safely and as quickly as they possibly can. Obviously, our thoughts are also with staff who are concerned at the moment.”
Minister King also acknowledged that the Australian aviation market is “always really tough for a new entrant”, and said the government is looking to boost competition in the sector.
“We are a small market, despite the fact we are amazing travellers and we do want to travel everywhere and all the time … we’ve seen that through the process of aviation history here in Australia, but we are determined as a government to make everything we can do to try and improve competition.
“The slots reforms I announced not that long ago at Sydney Airport are obviously the first time there’s been any reform in that in over 27 years, that assists, but also making sure that consumers have their rights upheld.
“People under Australian Consumer Law do have rights when they are sold flight tickets about getting credits, getting refunds for those making sure that the service that they have paid for is actually delivered.
“If people are concerned about future bookings that they have, I’d encourage them to look at the ACCC’s website and look at what information is available to them about what their rights are under Australian Consumer Law.”
