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It took four years and the most highly anticipated music tour in recent memory, but Australia's aviation industry has finally recovered from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) said passenger numbers for March this year were at almost 99 per cent of 2019 levels, while February was the first month that outperformed its pre-pandemic counterpart.
That surge in air travel demand was driven in large part by Taylor Swift's seven-show tour of Australia, the ACCC said.
"Some one-off events contributed to a spike in domestic passenger activity in February, compared to what is typically observed in that month," its Domestic Airline Competition said.
"Most notably, Taylor Swift performed seven shows to more than 600,000 people across two weekends exclusively in Melbourne and Sydney.
"Airlines added some capacity following news of her tour. For example, Qantas announced it had added 67 additional flights, or over 11,000 seats on Melbourne and Sydney routes."
While administrators are exploring options for the company, the ACCC doesn't expect it to get back in the air, according to the report.
The consumer watchdog says the new airline's demise is a blow for the sector – and for travellers hoping for cheaper airfares.
"Since Bonza began operations, travellers benefited from more affordable airfares and the convenience of direct connections to various regional and holiday destinations otherwise not offered by other airlines," ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.
"While Bonza's impact on competition had been limited to date, its presence represented an opportunity for greater competition to emerge in the highly concentrated domestic aviation sector."
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But in better news for those customers, Brakey said prices are decreasing and should continue to become more affordable.
"After four years of instability, the domestic airline industry has returned to more typical seasonal levels that were last seen before the pandemic," she said.
"The increase to airline seat capacity has contributed to lower airfares for consumers on domestic routes.
"We hope to see this trend continue as the airline industry returns to a more stable market."
Airlines haven't quite managed to get their reliability levels back to normal though.
A report from the federal government's Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts released today revealed on-time arrivals and departures for April were lower than long-term averages of 81 and 82.1 per cent respectively.
Industry-wide cancellations, meanwhile, sat at 2.8 per cent – higher than the long-term standard of 2.2 per cent.