Is Koala Airlines the new Qantas killer?

Koala Airlines are entering the Australian Aviation market. Who are they, what aircraft will they fly and on what routes, and what's their background? Take a look into Australia's newest airline that's hoping to compete against Qantas and Virgin Australia in a way that Rex and Bonza weren't able to.
Curious about the newest player shaking up Australia's skies? Koala Airways is about to take off, but will they succeed where so many others have struggled? In this video, I dive deep into the airline's bold plans, their routes, the aircraft they'll be flying, and why competing with Qantas and Virgin is no easy task.
More about me and my adventures: stef747.com
Behind the scenes, photos, and more video content: / stef747
Music by Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicso...

[@DavidBromage]

Surely their callsign has to be DROPBEAR?

[@becsterbrisbane6275]

Perfect comment is perfect!

[@cserd8734]

I was thinking Blinky Bill…

[@Tree_132]

Oh hell yes

[@mini_steve]

It fits. Especially with a Boeing.

[@mjr320]

not sure u want the word drop anywhere in an airline callsign

[@jezkemp712]

The key to success, is to fly anti clockwise around Australia, stopping at all 4 points of the compass for epic photo opportunities. :0)

[@malclock7981]

One thing that most people forget are the huge costs in the booking system. Regardless of who they manage to 'host' with, they will be paying a large amount in fees to both the 'host' system AND, the Global Distribution Systems who charge a fee just for booking a seat *see note*, regardless of whether it actually turns into a sale. And then, there are landing fees, etc. These hidden costs are overlooked by the flying public who only see the Fare and who have no idea of where the profit is supposed to come from. In fact, it's a wonder that many airlines even manage to make a profit these days ? *Note* In my 41 years designing airline systems, one of the many challenges was to try and stop fictitious agents from making thousands of false bookings and just living on the kickbacks they got from the GDS fees !!

[@naturallyherb]

I'm predicting it will go down like Bonza did.

[@sambalarezo7497]

I agree, but I hope to god you are wrong.

[@maxrebo8455]

The old joke, the easiest way to get a million dollars is start with a billion and run an airline.

[@Capsicum1]

@@maxrebo8455 Can i steal this joke its very funny

[@maxrebo8455]

@@Capsicum1 Oh alright.

[@carlramirez6339]

Bonza made the huge mistake of thinking it could induce demand in regional towns. Had they flown ATR 72s like Citilink or Cebu Pacific do, they might have been able to profit off their regional routes, instead of thinking they could fill the 737 MAX through low fares.

[@stephen_1987]

I honestly think Rex would have better off to recapitalise their regional fleet with the ATR-42 instead of their foray into the capital city routes. With previous attempts to start a third major airline failing due to low load factors, would something a bit smaller like the A220 be a more economical answer lower risk platform then the 737?

[@maxrebo8455]

Who knows what was going through the minds of the board and leadership team? That risky intercapital move should have been canned as soon as it was clear Virgin would be saved. Anyone who buys the brand is going to be saddled with a fleet of mostly sad old Saabs and a half billion dollars of debt that's growing by the day. If I could whip out my crystal ball imagine that it’s going to go into liquidation and National Jet Express and maybe Pel Air will be snapped up. it’ll be then on the governments to scramble to find and appoint alternative providers for some of the routes.

[@jackchalk205]

Correct but the start up costs would be way higher than starting with pre-owned 737s. The training of cabin crew and tech crew on a new type costs more when they can just hire staff who have operated 737s before. So long story short, no, opting for an A220 model would be worse

[@mjr320]

100% agree but i would have stuck with Saab 2000 that would have kept maintenance and re training for flight/cabin crew, engineering costs down, and then with the larger capacity and longer range they could have operated syd/mel or syd/bne

[@stephen_1987]

@@mjr320 only 63 Saab 2000’s were built, and they have been out of production for 25 years. You don’t replace an orphan with another orphan. The ATR-42 is in current production now, and if ordered back when the 737’s were originally leased would have been available relatively soon.

[@mjr320]

@@stephen_1987 great point, so maybe it might be time for a major fleet upgrade and in that case the ATR is a great option which has multiple size options as well for higher load factor routes, and i dont think if they desperately want to use a jet then the a220 or smaller jet would be all they need

[@alankroit]

My understanding was that Bonza's business model was actually successful. The problem was that the company overseas who leased the aircraft to Bonza, we're in financial difficulties and had to take the aircraft back.

[@mrmemer2179]

IMO their business idea was good but they couldnt run on the important routes (sydney to melbourne and other state capital routes) due to slot hoarding by other airlines and de to this, they were flying large, expensive aircraft (737 Max 8) on routes that simply did not have enough demand to fill said aircraft. Additionally, fierce competition from Qantas and Virgin, who have much more money, were able to undercut airfares on Bonza's routes.

[@robman2095]

if the government wants more competition in the sector they need to give some legislative support to the smaller guys trying to get in - maybe somehow with slots, terminal facilities, costs for smaller players etc - otherwise the current duopoly seems set to continue to exclude competitors at considerable cost to the travelling public and businesses. If they can legislate against monopolies and break up monopolies then doing a bit to support long term viable competition in the sector should not be asking too much.

[@merrynesther]

imo it's a little bit of both. leasing company blindsiding them combined with lack of profitability. it was evident they were losing money after they began rapidly downsizing their services.

[@yvr2002rtw]

One of my non-English speaking friends referred to Qantas as "Kangaroo Airlines" when I asked him which airline he took to Australia!

[@StefanDrury]

It’s very descriptive.

[@Emperorvalse]

Foreign pilots often call QF flights "Skippy".

[@tedburnard841]

Quite A Nice Trip Any Survivors?

[@stuartedwards3622]

Once Western Sydney airport is open I can see room for a third player in the Australian market. Let’s hope they don’t run out of cash before then though.

[@mjr320]

australia does not have the flying population for it

[@fyshi6226]

@@mjr320 exactly thats what everyone forgets, we only have enough people for 2.5 airlines, which is what we have right now

[@Seurnn]

@@fyshi6226 yes as long as Virgin and Qantas own the rights to airport slots of course they'll only be two. That's how cartels work. Hint: flying population isn't a problem

[@fyshi6226]

@Seurnn it is if they can cancel half their flights and not delay anyone significantly there isn't enough people flying, and with the limited slots rex had they could barely get the planes 50% full despite having a frequent and cheap service

[@xr6lad]

@@SeurnnHint: flying population IS a problem. Please don’t run an airline.

[@davidp7241]

Anybody who uses the Max will never have me as a customer.

[@highace10]

Despite them flying 10's of thousands of hours since the incidents without issue? You could die driving your car to work tomorrow but you dont care about that.

[@blokeabouttown2490]

Same, I avoid them.

[@sal78sal]

life is too short as it is to flay a 737 max

[@lisasutherland-fraser4479]

I pray they make it. I’d love to see more competition. Maybe they’re taking their time in an attempt to make it in and continue.

[@JimOHalloran]

My wife and I were looking to travel to Perth and nearly booked on Rex when they announced ADL/PER services. In hindsight, I'm glad we didn't. Their web site offered some quite bizarre routings for Adelaide to Perth, which showed their regional underpinnings. One of the routes we were offered was Adelaide -> Broken Hill -> Sydney -> Melbourne -> Perth. Rex at the time had direct flights between all of those capital cities, so ADL/PER direct was possible. As was ADL/SYD/PER and ADL/MEL/PER, so I have no idea why they wanted us to go to Sydney and Melbourne. Via Broken Hill seems like a unique way to get to Sydney though, might have to try that one day! :)

[@marsgal42]

We have a long history of startups going broke here in Canada. The most recent failure was Lynx. Our duopoly is Air Canada and WestJet (themselves once a regional startup), plus Porter quietly growing and doing a lot of things right.

[@Dobuan75]

Compas, Bonza, Rex, East-West, Ansett, Hazelton, Australian, TAA, etc... there is problem here that needsto be sorted.

[@openbabel]

Did not realize the max was still flying or could fly in Australia, as it seems to be on the scrappage list for Boeing. The only aircraft which might work regionally is the A220 xl. Perhaps dynamic pricing was the right pricing model....call it easy jet Australia...after all Norfolk Island is a obvious route. same with northern routes.

[@ForTheBirbs]

Not forgetting the demise of Compass v1 and v2

[@xr6lad]

And a raft of others.

[@paulconnolly4483]

And Ansett 😅

[@joelrichters]

I think it might work well to use Embraer E170s and connect Archerfield (small runway upgrade), Bankstown and Essendon.

[@colddripgaming]

I can't speak for Bankstown and Essendon but Archerfield would not be suitable as it doesn't have the infrastructure for passenger jets

[@ronlucock3702]

Virgin wasn't originally one of the "big 2". That was Qantas & Ansett, dating back to when Qantas was Government-owned & the 2 Airline policy basically ensured that Ansett didn't even have to compete. It just had to be there. Ansett didn't fail because of market share, it failed because of management neglect & Virgin just happened to be in the right pace at the right time to pick up that much of their market. Ironically, when Virgin collapsed due to the imact of Covid (& the fact that the half-dozen other airlines that owned it were having their own same problems & had no spare cash to keep it afloat), Rex tried to replicate the same stunt, not only trying to take over Virgin's market but even doing it with Virgin's planes, repainted Rex on the outside but still Virgin on the inside, including the flight crews. To Rex's horror however, Virgin came back pretty quickly. Bailed up with private equity, Virgin sought to regain it's prior place & Rex was basically stuffed. Then Bonza comes in with a plane with a not-great reputation which was too expensive to operate for the routes it was servicing. Q400's would have been better. Plus from what I heard it was screwed over by it's foreign owners who weren't paying the leases. So good luck Koala (not). It sounds tacky & gimmicky, & seems like they're about to make the same mistakes as Rex & Bonza combined! I give them 0 - 6 months.

[@jaadotech]

I loved how you nearly couldn’t get through reading of Bonza’s plane names without laughing

[@hayleedriver8484]

I definitely will use them if they fly to regional towns. I traveled with Bonza numerous times as it suited my needs without going to the capital cities and each time the plane was full.

[@carine4318]

So,hope they fly high and often. When I started flying in 1981 our customer service was A plus, we the crew were the entertainment we spoke to pax had a laugh and more crew on board.

[@Calebs_Aviation]

It looks great Stefan! 😅 Cheers 🥂 Caleb’s Aviation

[@theflyingfrog]

They’ll certainly be cuddlier than qantas

[@StefanDrury]

Haha

[@nihilmiror6312]

Best of luck Koala. 👍🤞😎

[@ColinPacker]

Oh why did you not say, "Bear with me while I explain this." ?

[@StefanDrury]

Dammit, that’s such a missed opportunity!

[@chieftanke]

Finest specimen of Gen X dad joke lol

[@waynej747]

Because Koala’s are not bears!

[@zedsonata]

I'm so angry they didn't call it Emu air.

[@StefanDrury]

Give it a few years, we may have an Emu Air throwing their hat into the ring as well...

[@ColinPacker]

@@StefanDrury It'll never get off the ground. OK, no more from me.

[@zoe..d]

All the Americans will be upset - the airline will fold and everyone will joke about the emus losing another war. (First one wasn't ever a thing BTW)

[@Rickxta]

Bonza has evolved into Emu Air- never could fly.

[@ACDZ123]

Sounds like a West Australian airline. EMU EXPORT 😅

[@harkmi3]

You need a Porter Airlines in Australia. I thought Rex would play that role but it obviously didn’t pan out.

[@logicus_mentis]

You mean pan pan out. 🙃

[@joelrichters]

Also… Air Australia which I think had the coolest livery. Very Aussie.

[@bruceharper8149]

Wonderfully explained Stef, thank you.

[@StefanDrury]

Thanks Bruce

[@goneskis]

Another domestic carrier may have a slim chance with Sydney's second airport opening if they can operate from it. The fact Bonza was priced out of Sydney Airport and Rex was already being price gouged to use Sydney Airport was already a big challenge.

[@JimOHalloran]

The airline industry in Australia does seem to favor a duoploy for some reason. If you remember far enough back there was also Compass which tried at least twice and failed both times. I remember when Virgin was the third challenger airline, and there's an argument for their survival being due to the failure of Ansett at the right time leaving Qantas and Virgin as the two remaining, I hope Koala can find a niche and survive. Challenging Qantas and Virgin on price isn't it, ideally it would be something the two incumbents can't or won't do, but I have no idea what that might be.

[@stephengentle2815]

Flying the 737-8 is the wrong choice I think - the market is so concentrated that it’s going to be hard to fill even a smallish aircraft like that at first. If they could, I’d think the A220 would be a pretty prime aircraft for this, especially trying for the more Bonza model of trying to find underserved routes. But I guess there probably aren’t many available to lease and the order backlog is probably so long that starting now you wouldn’t have any for years…

[@NoRegertsHere]

A220s very unreliable with the PW engines.

[@blokeabouttown2490]

Compass Airlines, Air Australia, OzJet, Bonza, Rex I've seen them all come and go and chances are Koala Airlines will join this list. The established big players have the industry under their control and they won't allow any new upstarts to rock the boat.

[@hughofIreland]

Boomerang would be a great name for an Australian airline.

[@StefanDrury]

You could only book return fares though.

[@fortnitelizzy6077]

😂​@@StefanDrury

[@hughofIreland]

@@StefanDrury I’ll keep setting them up for you. 😀 Australia is big as is the USA. I think following the model of Southwest Airlines (which copied a lot from PSA, which is a story yet to be told on KZbin) is the way to go. It’s worked well or extremely well for everyone that’s tried and committed to it. Ryan Air being a stellar example. Australia has about 10% of the US, so the network will never be as vast, but it’s an idea worth considering.

[@urbanbroccoli]

The only way an airline can take on Qantas and Virgin is to do something *fundamentally different* that they cannot undercut them on, and which is also sustainable in regard to cost and demand. Aside from being a small player doing very niche routes, I truly believe the only solution to this conundrum is... night trains.

[@stjepannikolic5418]

agree. something like flying 737's between Moorabbin and Bankstown :)

[@justinun01]

I think the strategy is to come up with something completely unique. Like fly internationally out of regional airports providing regional residents an alternative to having to go to the major cities to fly out of Australia

[@ins3cure207]

thats a good idea, but then heaps of regional airports would need to go under massive renovations to accompany for the thousands of extra tourirts and people coming through. also i dont know if most regional airports would have the security standard for international flights.

[@justinun01]

@@ins3cure207 Canberra Airport does

[@carlramirez6339]

Cairns has a population of 150k and has flights to New Zealand, PNG, Indonesia, China, Japan and Singapore. Broome has a population of 14.7k and has flights to Singapore.

[@downunderdave5417]

I'd give them a go as a kickstart!

[@737787]

Good overview Stefan. No mention of Jetstar? Perhaps use Qantas Group and mention Jetstar. Why? Well just a piece of the puzzle really. I mean how much effect does the Qantas low cost carrier have on new starters? Heaps I would think.

[@StefanDrury]

Thank you, I kind of lumped Qantas and Jetstar into the same bracket here. Qantas can counter competition at both the corporate and leisure levels, full fare and low price through the two brands. But fair point it’s more the Qantas group not just that particular brand.

[@stjepannikolic5418]

@@StefanDrury I am starting to believe that both Qantas and Virgin have the same owners...

[@NoRegertsHere]

@@stjepannikolic5418most airlines in Australia are owned by Qantas.

[@parksy70]

See how long this airline lasts, none of the other airlines seem to last long. Fingers crossed 🤞

[@foxiedogitchypaws7141]

🐨🦊🐄🤗 the 747 Max ? Same plane that had serious problems? I wont ever fly on that plane. Or Am I wrong about the plane? Thanks!

[@StefanDrury]

Sadly you make a good point. The 737 Max 8 brand took a lot of damage as a result of the tragic events in 2018 and 2019.

[@NoRegertsHere]

No issue with the plane, extra AOA sensor been added.

[@ACDZ123]

​@@NoRegertsHerewho cares. Won't be ever setting foot in one 😅

[@NoRegertsHere]

@@ACDZ123 ok then 🤷🏿‍♂️

[@sal78sal]

737 max is built by disgruntled low paid American employees who want to to destroy Boeing. So if they miss a few screws, ah well.

[@TazziedoesWT]

If only Ansett weren’t so reckless and actually hired real finance managers, we’d still have those beautiful tails!

[@chrisweavers903]

Hope they can get up and compete - and that the ACCC watches for Qantas predatory actions if Koala starts getting traction

[@WIngsWithoutBarriers]

2:52 I wonder how many takes that took given you how you were trying to hold your laughter in😂. Nice new office as well. Its looks soon clean.

[@logicus_mentis]

I wouldn't put Ansett in with the other startups. They were quite successful and had been around since the 1930s. They completely screwed by Air NZ. They went into administration 2 days after the WTC attack in 2001. What a tumultuous time that was!

[@ansett7272]

I concur Ansett operations was Australia wide even into Papua New Guinea. Ansett AN 1936-2002. Great service with quality. Two airline Policy was great with TAA a stable domestic industry. Qantas was only international. Ansett 727.

[@c8Lorraine1]

@@ansett7272 I disagree. Ansett was a sh*t airline

[@ansett7272]

@@c8Lorraine1 I had many flights with AN from the1970's until 2000. Full service carrier. Superb service. Please expand reasons of your comment and why? Interesting and curious. Ansett 727.

[@VanillaMacaron551]

I saw some of Bonza's planes on the tarmac at Warsaw, Poland, in June 24. Googled it and it was reported that's where they went initially.

[@garrywallah4966]

@7:23 thanks for giving me the bird mate!!

[@michaelverris5357]

Why not start with smaller aircraft such as the a220 or E190s to have less seats to fill

[@MrTCGAMES64]

We’re also on the knives edge of a recession - wishing them the best.

[@iangreen180]

That’s the first I’ve heard of it, but surely The Flying Kangaroo can fly better than a koala!

[@mitchellnissen6466]

The way to break through as an airline in Australia is to create a lifestyle brand first. Create a points and loyalty scheme first and foremost before buying a jet. This loyalty scheme can be for online shopping, phone plans, credit cards etc. The tangible benefits of the loyalty scheme are discounts on purchases, swag, and other unique non-travel benefits like members only access to “members only” clubs in each major capital where travellers can chill when they’re in a new city. Only once this loyalty scheme is established and you have a proven touch point with the public should you move anywhere near aviation. Then buy up lounge space at airports where your loyalty scheme users can use when they’re flying on your (future) competitors planes. Members only clubs at airports should precede the launch of the airline by some years. Once you’ve build up the lifestyle part of your brand and user experience, then you get your planes leased and only operate the capital routes. All major state capitals only. Then you’re just integrating the travel part of your offering with the lifestyle part of your offering.

[@sal78sal]

Frequent flyer schemes are usually more valuable than the airline.

[@Hi_its_Kartik]

Will wait for it to pop up on Ladbrokes

[@a9503128]

While a certain company is allowed to squat on the slots into the major airport the duopoly continues. No MP is giving up their “lounge access” and free flights for life.

[@ch64621]

After the demise of Air Vanuatu, we do not have a direct connection between Port Vila and Melbourne and our Sydney connection will be reconnected by JetStar in December. It would be great if Koala Airlines could reconnect us to Melbourne and compete with JetStar on the Sydney route since most of our tourists come from Victoria and New South Wales along with our high number of seasonal workers who travel to Australia to work on farms on those two states.

[@Rob-mg4nh]

Should bring back Ansett,, they were the best back in the time

[@jimmer6134]

thanks for another upload, for us in Australia tho it is Sunday so it is not quite 2 uploads in a week tho.

[@GrantMcHerron]

Speaking of stock photos: the lady pointing to a board (next to "Building a Brighter Future" on the home page) is in a railway terminal, not an airport. Oooops :)

[@ginaanastas3851]

Unfortunately they wont succeed but great to see them having a go and wish them well.....

[@adrianistrat794]

Quite the airline specialist

[@brycepender6001]

Could they be eyeing the Western Sydney Airport base and grabbinga few slots there?

[@khaled1980]

Hi Stef, I wonder why I can’t join to be member to see your member only videos. Thank you

[@StefanDrury]

Hey Khaled, I've closed the members only area of my channel for the moment I'm afraid. I wasn't producing enough content to warrant the membership fee. If anything ever changes I'll post an update here on the channel. Thanks for showing an interest though.

[@radjafan]

Still cant believe my previous lecturer at EAU is the COO

[@PWC67]

I think if Rex had concentrated on its regional network and expanding that together with an updated prop fleet, it would have been so much more successful. Trying to compete on mainline routes was a total waste of money and therefore no need for another airline like Koala.

[@db7059]

Wow. I didn't know we had DC3s here in Australia. I seen it on tv flying through the harshest winters

[@StefanDrury]

Yeah they look great against the Australian desert as a backdrop hey?

[@db7059]

@@StefanDrury sure do

[@damienrollond5301]

We also had Dokota Airlines flying DC-3 out of Bankstown.

[@mjr320]

they are hot and noisy and not very pleasant to fly on

[@gerrycooper56]

A bit like Coles and Woolworths.

[@NoRegertsHere]

Costco, Aldi, IGA are all players that threaten Cole’s and woolies

[@pilot_man]

We nee a new full service airline!

[@kadachiman7234]

Any new competitor needs to set up a regional airline using long haul regional jets of 70-80 seat capacity and serve the many routes that do not currently have any service......e.g. Embraer 170/175, build up a reputation over time, same as Qantas and Virgin have and move into being a full competitor when they have a much better customer loyalty and brand recognition base. OR........wait until they are big enough to be brought out by Qantas or Virgin to add to their regional services as Qantas has previously done.

[@adamknight5089]

Oh god, here we go again. No-one can beat the big players, but I'll break out the popcorn and see how quickly they go insolvent.

[@amcconnell6730]

Predatory pricing is terrible in the Australian aviaiton market. Compass and Compass 2 were both agressively priced out of the market by Ansett & Australian Airlines. Virgin probably only survived on the back of the Ansett collapse. Tiger, Bonza & Rex have all hit the same problems.

[@neilkemp9118]

Ansett was a great success long before Virgin appeared. Mismanagement was its down fall when take overs occurred, if he were alive and in control Reg Ansett would still be in business.

[@ansett7272]

Yes AN was great Sir Reg would be turning in his grave as to know what happened to his airline. Such a loss. I know the history and great flights with AN and subsidiaries. Ansett 727.

[@electro_sykes]

looks like they are using the same strategy that worked so well for Bonza and Rex

[@bluedog1052]

Drop Bear Air.....great. Well good luck to them. I read that they've requested the Government to review the time slots during peak hours for Qantas (and Jetstar) and Virgin to release some peak time slots to enhance to airline competition within Australia which should bring prices down.

[@StefanDrury]

Ha, I wonder how long before Drop Bear Air becomes a thing!

[@tristanjohnson4477]

Drop Bair

[@GoldWingGames]

What all of these new players should be using embraer aircraft/ smaller jet aircraft that fit around 90 to 100 not the 100 to 140. Its silly to think that they can fill a 737 easily and make it cost effective. The embaer 190 can fly the longer routes and the 175 coulf fly the shorter ones. We just need the aircraft.

[@stjepannikolic5418]

If they could do 737 operations from Moorabbin and Bankstown, then they could succeed - which will happen as we all know - n e v e r :)

[@TreFR14]

Yo I was the kid you saw on the train on the Friday a week ago. Yes I am subscribed

[@StefanDrury]

Thanks for saying hello, good to meet you.

[@TheBanDitMemer]

Australian airlines really need to start focusing on markets underserved by qantas jetstar and virgin, but international routes with decent capacity planes (787) for example, Australians flying to Thailand, are either forced to fly the low cost and undesirable Jetstar or the non Australian Thai airways. One of the things that makes qantas customers so loyal is the “feel like home” approach. Despite Thai airways being a fairly good airline, Australians would naturally shift to the Australian option. But they need a filler. Really, Australian airlines should compete with qantas international rather than Jetstar or virgin. Jetstar is more so chosen when forced to be, and virgin has a very small international network. So the airlines should fly 787’s into large Asia markets where only Jetstar are at the moment. (Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Phuket, Hanoi, Ho Chi Min City, Colombo, Mumbai, Manila, Seoul, Nairobi, Taipei, Male, and Hawaii). They would fly these routes from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane occasionally, and because Brisbane is a smaller city closer to Asia, they could use A321NEO’s. In my opinion, competing with Jetstar while using a Qantas type approach would be the best bet. To start, prices would have to be relatively low, until they start to earn a strong reputation. And they need some proper advertising, or marketing. They should have a name like If you’ve read to here I respect your patience honestly,

[@johnfitzpatrick2469]

G,day Stefan from Sydney. I pray your doing well. Really great UK four points of the compass trip with your mate. Do you know how the previous owners " company logo" of the Koala planes? 🌏🇦🇺

[@decepticons_destroy]

Until Australia has a population of 50mill, only two airlines can survive this harsh industry

[@richard8181]

Absolutely population is the limiting factor

[@jovceata]

Hey Stef thanks for the bird at 7:23 hahaha

[@andrewharris513]

Thanks for the video. Just a small note for anyone watching this video and don't know Ansett Airlines. Ansett survived for 66 years, were always a better product than TAA/Australian/Qantas. Far superior service. Unfortunately they ran too many aircraft types, became an expensive business and then once they were bought out by Air New Zealand, Air NZ bled them dry financially. Ansett's business model wasn't great in the end, and it became an expensive airline to run as i mentioned, but i will never forgive Air New Zealand for basically killing Ansett.

[@c8Lorraine1]

I wasn’t upset to see Ansett fail. My baby son a I were treated appallingly by staff. Twice!

[@ansett7272]

@@c8Lorraine1 Sad to hear no details needed. Ansett 727.

[@ansett7272]

I concur yes know history in detail. Two Airline Policy Australia with was stable and watching parallel flights was fun with TN and AN jets take almost who was off the bay first gets to take off first! I liked old Air New Zealand TE days DC8 DC10 international. Great service. Simpler times. Sad with loss of AN great times. Ansett 727

[@trumant1w057]

Koala needs to move internationally small cities, to like denpasar, Dili, labuan bajo

[@robaust3049]

There is a long history to learn from here, many have tried and fail. Is the Australia market able to support a 3rd Domestic carrier? Naturally Qantas and Virgin will protect the trunks. Anyway they have announced an intent to start an Airline. We will see.

[@thomassharp2719]

Forget the Boeing 737 Death Max Jets !! If they would use the modern Airbus A220 Jets. They might succeed.

[@NoRegertsHere]

Reliability problems plague the a220.

[@ACDZ123]

Won't catch me on one

[@NoRegertsHere]

@@ACDZ123 but more to the story that just technical issue (that’s been fixed)

[@ACDZ123]

@NoRegertsHere I don't care ..that's it .737 is dead to me

[@woddypod]

Virgin didn’t have deep pockets at the time Rex launched. Virgin had just come out of administration. Rex assumed Virgin would collapse and took a gamble on that which didn’t pay off.

[@NoRegertsHere]

Rex made mistakes on routes and target market too

[@TianyiWei]

Honestly if they do MEL-SYD they’re all I’ll fly domestically

[@warren3967]

Like every other airline that has tried to access the Australian market I have no doubt that we will be reading about the bankruptcy in the next 3 to 4 months. Which will be a great shame as Qantas and Virgin need competition, but the general flying public are apathetic to trying anything new. Best of luck, but I am not holding my breath.

[@joshuamccabe7729]

And just this morning I was reading that Jetstar looks like it will collapse.

[@curlylast8121]

Hmmm, let us see, in the past 30 odd years, there has been Compass, Compass II, Ansett, Impulse, Tiger, OzJet, Bonza, and let us not forget the ailing Rex and the twice reincarnation of Virgin. My gut feeling is Koala will go the way of the Tasmanian Tiger, most likely because they will have the wrong fleet and woeful load factors. Perhaps either Dash 8 Q400 or ATR72's might give them a chance? A novel approach would be to code share with an entrenched carrier, but that would have nil and Buckley's chance of flying... pardon the pun.

[@coover65]

Will this go the way of Impulse, Compass, Tiger, Bonza and Rex? I sincerely hope not.

[@ronparrish6666]

Soon to be called another one bites the dust

[@Ka-52blackshark]

It’s gonna end up like bonza and Rex and everyone else before it

[@fortnitelizzy6077]

Exactly

[@Ka-52blackshark]

@@fortnitelizzy6077 it’s gonna end up the same story qantas will get government funding while the rest get small amounts of private funding and that’s not enough to compete virgin barely holding their own and Rex has lost their 737 flights bonza lasted 2 years and Ansett fell in 2006 cause of lack of funds put it shortly the red kangroo can’t get off the governments meat

[@auscambaiting]

Koala Airlines isn't it from Anchorman 2?

[@832JY]

I might want to laugh at this cute koala news… I don’t think it is going to work at this moment. From Rex to Bonza Airlines all went into admission.

[@samuelcraig]

If it's better than Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin then it will do well

[@davidhunt3808]

Qantas sets out to crush any opposition !! Its sad but true !! When Australian airlines was amalgamated with Qantas it changed aviation in Australia . Up to that point we Ansett , TAA ,Qantas serving international but also other operators like East West ,Bush pilots some different operators in Western Australia . It was a healthier Aviation scene it was competition .

[@strathruncie]

This is just going to become Compass mk.4, unfortunately. And if you're curious, Bonza was Compass mk.3 - which I called on day one, and was sadly proven right.

[@mizzyroro]

They're going the way of Bonza very soon.

[@Ashton89YT]

Nice

[@jesse5493]

Was it the fault of Bonza not being profitable or the hedge fund who owned the aircraft that got into trouble?

[@Jamesexperiences]

Maybe they could base in Tasmania which is forgetten the most .

[@Mattplanespotter]

Far better name than Bonza. Also nice livery

[@haemolysis]

I hope they succeed. But I think something you didn’t really discuss is the politics. Politicians all get perks (chairmans lounge) from Qantas and hence they deliberately take actions to protect Qantas… it is impossible for competitors to find an edge while politicians maintain the status quo. Whilst this came to the spotlight with Qatar, it absolutely applies to domestic as well.