Flair Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 in hybrid Bonza livery
* Flight ticketed by Bonza and operated by Flair Airlines with Flair Airlines aircraft and crew *
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Where did I fly on this flight?
Booking the Flight & Cost of the Flight
To book a flight on Bonza, I had the 'Fly Bonza' application downloaded on my phone and booked this flight a couple of months in advance. While Bonza does have a website, flights can only be booked on their phone application. Thanks to a sale at the time of booking, the 'Flight Only' option, the cheapest fare type, cost $59 and included a carry-on bag. I paid a total of $94 in the 'Flight' fare type, with checked baggage and seat selection being extra costs on top of the original fare. I found the booking process with Bonza very straightforward and very easy to navigate, and I had the confirmation email already sent through to me almost instantly after payment went through. The Bonza application was not overcrowded with advertisements for different services, which can be the case with what some other low-cost carriers might do with their websites.
Operating Aircraft
Flair Airlines' Boeing 737 MAX 8 C-FLHI was the operating aircraft for this flight from Launceston to the Gold Coast. C-FLHI was the 7683rd Boeing 737 built. It was four years old when the flight took place. It was first delivered to Flair Airlines in Canada in June 2021 and arrived in Australia on lease to Bonza in December 2023, where it operates at the time of writing, although the lease is soon to be up. The aircraft is powered by two CFM International LEAP-1B27 engines. Since the flight occurred the aircraft has been named Bruce. The aircraft appeared clean and looked like it had been well looked-after.
Cabin
The aircraft features the Boeing Sky Interior. The cabin was quite full with the occasional spare seat here and there spread throughout. It was very nice and clean and was in great condition. The cabin had mood lighting, and was used throughout the entire flight, which was a nice touch and added to the atmosphere onboard.
Seating
I pre-paid for a seat on this flight,and I went for seat 8A. Flair Airlines' decent-sized fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft feature 189 leather seats in an all-economy class layout in a 3-3 configuration with 32 rows onboard. The seats feature a pitch of between 29 to 30 inches and a width of 17 inches. There is only seats 1A, 1B and 1C, row 1 does not have seats 1D, 1E or 1F. The seats on C-FLHI are a creamy-greyish hue. The overwing exits are rows 15 and 16, and the seats with no window are 11A, 12A and 12F. Seats in row 1, 15 and 16 are branded as 'Stretch Plus' and cost $20 to reserve, as well as seats 2D, 2E and 2F, the front row on the starboard side of the cabin. Rows 2 (seats 2A, 2B and 2C) to row 14 are 'Prime' seats and were $12 (rows 2-6) and $10 (rows 7-14) to book. 'Pick' seats are in rows 17-32 and cost $8 (rows 17-24) and $6 (rows 25-32) to reserve. Seat 8A was very comfortable and; surprisingly, had good legroom to offer.
Inflight Customer Service
At present, Bonza flights operated out of its Gold Coast base are operated by Flair Airlines aircraft, with Flair Airlines providing flight and cabin crew from Canada for these services, Therefore, Flair Airlines flight attendants carried out the inflight service. They were very friendly and carried out the service with great professionalism, even putting a comedic twist on their inflight announcements at times. The inflight service itself is still utilisng Bonza's catering which features an all-Australian menu of food and drinks for purchase through their app. The application provided a message to be sent with orders, and I gave the crew some feedback, thanking them for their service and how I had flown from Adelaide to fly their aircraft, and minutes later they had written a note for me, signed by them. A big shoutout to the crew for a wonderful flight!
Inflight Entertainment
The seat pocket contained the safety card (which was a Flair Airlines one) and air sickness bags. There is no inflight magazine. Flair AIrlines does not provide any electronic means of entertainment in the form of personal entertainment systems, but does offer streaming to one's own device where flight information, movies and the onboard food, drinks and merchandising menu can be accessed. Electronic inflight entertainment is purely on a bring-your-own basis, which is standard on low-cost carriers. I found the inflight entertainment on my phone easy to navigate; I screen-recorded my phone while looking through the offering. Movies and games are offered which is good, however I just photographed outside the window and chatted with the flight attendants, that was just as good for me on this flight.
Photos
The operating aircraft vacating the runway at Launceston Airport after operating flight AB1753 from the Gold Coast. While on lease, this aircraft has this hybrid livery with some Flair Airlines signage around the aircraft.
Views whilst boarding
Flair Airlines safety card
Good legroom!
Seat 8A
Taxiing for takeoff
Takeoff from runway 32L
Cabin inflight
Crossing the northern Tasmanian coastline
Inflight at 39,000 feet over the southeastern coast of Victoria, back over mainland Australia
Inflight snacks. Saxby's Cola, Mildura Chocolate Company freckle, Brazen chocolate brownie, 'snag in a bag', as well as souvenir keep-cups featuring all of Bonza's aircraft names, including the limited-edition Flair Airlines keep-cup
With making orders on Bonza's app, you can attach a short message. I used that to thank the crew for coming to Australia and helping Bonza out, and the cabin crew wrote me this cute message
Photo with the lovely flight attendants of Australia Day's flight AB1754, Canadian legends!
Inflight at 39,000 feet
Cabin from the rear of the aircraft
View from seat 32F in the last row, used as a crew rest row
Descending into Coolangatta Airport on the Gold Coast
Landing on runway 32
Just after vacating the runway, photo by the_singingavgeek
Taxiing to the gate
Parked on bay 3
The other Flair Airlines aircraft in Australia,; C-FLKC
Economy class seats
Views whilst disembarking. The Bonza / Flair Airlines "Flonza" journey is not over just yet...
On this particular day I was heading to Cairns, and the second flight of the day for me; which was flight AB1605 from the Gold Coast to Cairns) was also operated by Bonza on a Flair Airlines aircraft, and the operating aircraft was 4-year-old C-FLKC, the 7802nd Boeing 737 built and also opered with Flair Airlines in Canada in June 2021 before coming to Australia in November 2023, operating for Bonza in the same lease as C-FLHI. Since this flight the aircraft has been named Matilda. The two aircraft are identical but do have one or two slight differences, however the configuration is the same. On the ground in Coolangatta Airport, I had to collect my checked bag and re-check in as Bonza do not offer tranship flights. I was in seat 20A for this flight, and in contrast to the first flight, this one was very empty. Much like last time, I sent a similar message via the bonza app to the crew when ordering some snacks, and they thanked me for the message and were more than happy for a photo after the flight. A great way to conclude a long day's travel of 3,100 kilometres!
View whilst boarding flight AB1605
Economy class seats, different colours than before, looks mroe Flair-y now!
Seat 20A
Taxiing for takeoff
Takeoff from runway 32
Dodging some nasty weather
Cabin inflight
Inflight at 38,000 feet with a view from seat 21F over the Great Barrier Reef with the gorgeous Flair winglet in the sunlight
Inflight snacks. Saxby's lemonade, bottle of water and the 'snag in a bag' again
Descending into Cairns Airport
Landing on runway 33
Taxiing to the gate
Docked at gate 22
Photo with the cabin and flight crew, another great bunch of Canadian legends!
View whilst disembarking
Flight AB1606 back to the Gold Coast for this Flonza aircraft
Final Verdict
When I saw that Bonza was leasing a couple of Flair Airlines aircraft and utilising their crews for these flights, I knew I had to get on them, but I did not intend to have two flights on them or even head up to Cairns in the first place, but I am very glad I did in the end. It is hard to gauge who it is I am reviewing, Bonza or Flair Airlines. The ground services of Bozna was great (though it was all done through Swissport). The Bonza app was good to use and worked a treat inflight, and the food and drinks were tasty. Moving to Flair Airlines, both of the aircraft were very clean and I was pleasantly surprised to find the seats were very comfortable despite being quite a dense configuration for the Boeing 737 MAX 8.
For me, the biggest pro for the whole expereience were Flair Airlines' own flight crew and cabin crew. On both flights they were beyond fantastic, and it was great to share some conversations and experiences of life in both Canada and Australia. One thing I found great to see was how appreciative the public was; word must have gotten around about a bunch of Canadians flying for Bonza, and I can recall several passengers on my Cairns flight thanking the crew for helping out. A shoutout goes to each one of these flight attendants and pilots for the work they do, and I wish them good luck as they return to Canada, I hope to see them onboard a flight soon, wherever that is. Honestly speaking, I have not been able to see fault with Bonza, and now I can add Flair Airlines to that. I would gladly fly both again. It's safe to say I know which airline I'd be flying with in the event that I ever get to travel on up to Canada.
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