TAMWORTH leaders have been left feeling "blindsided" and "disappointed" after the city's newest airline pulled the pin on flights to and from the country music capital.
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Bonza's decision to can flights between Tamworth and the Sunshine Coast - just two months after they launched - has been labelled as an odd and premature move.
Tamworth Business Chamber president Matthew Sweeney said he had heard only "positive" news from the budget airline when he had spoken with representatives just weeks before the shock announcement.
Mr Sweeney said he was told some flights could be "rejigged" if there was feedback from the community, but there was no talk of the Sunshine Coast route being cancelled.
"It's definitely come out of the blue," he said.
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Bonza's chief commercial officer Carly Povey alerted customers the airline had hit a patch of turbulence, which had grounded future flights between Tamworth and the Sunshine Coast in an open letter on Thursday, July 13.
She said due to a lack of demand, trips between the two destinations would be cancelled from August 1.
"We've been compelled to take out five routes where there isn't sustainable demand at present," Ms Povey said.
At the time, Mr Sweeney said the promise from the airline was that more flights would mean more people visiting the city.
"That was the definite draw card, to get visitors here," he said.
Despite labelling the cancellation as a premature "blindside", the business leader said there had been a series of alarm bells in the lead up to the announcement.
He said at a meeting with airline representatives he asked how the chamber could best market the Sunshine Coast - which he saw as an epicentre for conferences and large scale meetings - to boost ticket sales.
"I asked them what's happening in Maroochydore over the next few months ... their own answer was 'nothing'," he told the Leader.
Mr Sweeney said expecting people to jet set off to a beach side location in the middle of winter was also an "odd expectation".
"It's not rocket science to see why you wouldn't have got a significant volume of people flying both directions," he said.
The country music period is when Mr Sweeney expected things to really heat up - but that's now a distant dream.
"It's definitely a disappointment for the hospitality and entertainment sector here in Tamworth to have that leg cancelled," he said.
"It was probably going to be a higher influx coming from that direction [compared to Melbourne]."
Although no changes have been made to flights to and from Melbourne - which operate on Tuesday and Friday - Mr Sweeney said Bonza has a big task ahead to regain trust within the Tamworth community.
He said he wouldn't be surprised if people opted to fly with Qantas as a more "reliable" option to head down south.
"You can't afford to basically have them cancel at the last minute without notice," he said.
Tamworth Regional Council's Director of Growth and Prosperity Jacqueline O'Neill said she was "disappointed" by the cancellation, which first took off in Tamworth in May.
Customers booked on flights between August 1 and October 28 will be contacted by the airline and offered a full refund or alternate flights.
"To those customers who have or will face a cancelled flight, we apologise," Ms Povey said.
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