Over 60,000 prospects have been disregarded of pocket following the collapse of price range airline Bonza, a courtroom has heard.
The corporate entered voluntary administration final week, lower than 18 months after launching its first flights.
Accountancy agency Corridor Chadwick has been appointed as directors, with the primary assembly of collectors scheduled to be held on Friday.
A courtroom heard on Tuesday that the corporate had over 60,000 collectors – together with 323 workers who had been owed wages and annual depart and 120 commerce collectors.
There have been an additional 57,933 prospects who had bookings with the corporate, barrister James Hutton SC, who’s appearing for the directors, instructed the Federal Court docket on Tuesday morning.
“Right here we’ve a possible for 60-odd thousand collectors,” Mr Hutton mentioned.
“And of that we gave electronic mail notification yesterday … and as at this morning over 41,000 individuals had opened up these emails.”
The courtroom heard it was estimated that upwards of 20,000 collectors may search to participate within the collectors’ assembly and the directors had been working via the practicalities together with how a ballot might be taken.
As nicely, it’s unclear the place the collectors had been concentrated, but it surely was estimated that they had been based mostly across the regional routes the place the airline operated.
“It is rather tough to see how 20,000-odd individuals may ever be accommodated in a bodily assembly, that might require a stadium,” Mr Hutton instructed Justice Elizabeth Cheeseman.
As nicely, Mr Hutton instructed the courtroom that the directors weren’t in possession of the six plane which made up the Bonza fleet.
The planes had been leased whereas the airline was working and the lessor had terminated its settlement with Bonza earlier than it entered administration.
“The corporate doesn’t have entry to any of the six plane which it was presently utilizing,” Mr Hutton mentioned.
The courtroom heard that the plane had been situated at airports round Australia, together with Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, and the lessor meant to return them abroad.