Bonza slammed after cancelling flights between Darwin and Gold Coast and ruining Christmas plans for thousands of Aussies

Passengers have unleashed on a budget airline after their flights were suddenly cancelled, with many now down hundreds and even thousands of dollars.

Australia's newest low-cost airline Bonza announced on Thursday they would be cancelling flights between Darwin and the Gold Coast during the entirety of December.

The airline's first flight between the two cities was due to take off last week, however the carrier has blamed 'regulatory approval processes' for the issue. 

Around 1,100 customers have now been offered flights to Queensland's Sunshine Coast instead, while those no longer able to make the trip have been offered refunds.

Many Aussies have since aired their grievances online and say they are now at risk of losing money for accomodation and other transport arrangements that were already booked.

Others have said because they've had to buy a last-minute flight, the price of their new ticket is now much more expensive than their original fare.

'I'm at least 1K down because of these clowns,' one person wrote on social media.

'Do they want to reimburse us the accommodation and transport arrangements that now have to be cancelled? I bet not!' said another.

'I'm now out of pocket LOTS of extra money because I'm booking with other airlines at last minute prices. If they'd let me known earlier I would have been able to get cheaper replacement flights.'

Others questioned how the airfares were even allowed to be made available if they had not been approved.

'We booked flights with Bonza to avoid the other two biggies and they cancelled as they didn't have permission to fly the route. How are they allowed to sell tickets on an unauthorised route? Airline industry in Australia is stuffed,' said another. 

Some passengers also claimed they spent hours trying to get onto someone from the customer service team.

It's expected as many as 1,600 passengers have been impacted by the cancellations.

CEO of Bonza Tim Jordan apologised for the inconvenience and said that flights to the Gold Coast now had to be run by their Canadian counterparts Flair as the budget airline continues to hire more staff. 

'As we've previously shared, in the short term we will use an aircraft leased from our partner Flair at our Gold Coast base whilst we recruit Aussie crew for this third base,' Mr Jordan said. 

'This arrangement brings with it a separate regulatory approval process. That process is progressing but is not yet complete and as a result, we've had to make the regrettable decision to defer some flights between Gold Coast and Darwin in the coming weeks.

'We are acutely aware of the impact this has on our customers and we are very sorry for this.'

Mr Jordan said the airline is working with customers impacted by the cancellation and said they would provide a full refund to those who are now unable to travel.

'At this point our priority is to assist our impacted customers as efficiently as possible so that they can make alternative arrangements,' Mr Jordan said.

Bonza announced the Darwin to Gold Coast route in September along with two other travel routes between Darwin and the Sunshine Coast and Alice Springs to Melbourne.

Flights between Darwin to the Gold Coast were set to commence in late November. 

They are now expected to resume in January.

Bonza entered the Australian airline market in January 2023 as 'Australia's new and only independent, low cost airline'.

The airline operates several flights across multiple interstate destinations including NSW and Victoria.