Australia’s newest low-cost carrier Bonza is considering opening Northern Territory destinations, including Alice Springs and Yulara to its network of flights, depending on airport use agreements with the Territory’s airports, despite the Tourism Minister saying she hasn’t had the time to meet with them.

Bonza, currently services flights to-and-from New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria for as low as $49.

The budget carrier’s statement indicating it is considering new routes in the Territory late last week came after Alice Springs deputy mayor Eli Melky called for an alliance of hard-hit tourist towns in Central Australia to demand affordable flights following Qantas’s decision to cut 30,000 seats from its Alice Springs and Yulara flights.

Tourism Minister Nicole Manison said “dedicated public servants” had been in talks about replacement airlines, but revealed on Friday that she has not met with them herself.

“I have not had a direct meeting with Bonza or Rex because I’ve got my public servants in there having those conversations,” she told Mix 104.9.

She added she “had the whip out” to the public servants to meet with Bonza, but that she did not have the time herself to discuss options with the airline about servicing Central Australia.

Bonza’s announcement also follows AGT Downunder bus lines announcing on Friday that they will cease charter bus and tour services from Alice Springs, citing “external challenges”.

Qantas said it was forced to drastically reduce its seats in Alice Springs and Yulara starting this month until October, after its forecast of higher demands for flights to Alice Springs did not eventuate.

But many have suggested the flight cancellations and tour bus operations shutting down was due to ongoing crime issues in the troubled town.

“We had forecast higher demand on flights to and from Alice Springs and added additional capacity into our schedule, but given that demand hasn’t materialised we are pulling back on some of these additional flights and will use smaller aircraft on some routes,” Qantas said last week in a statement.

Bonza chief commercial officer Carley Povey said it would be seeking arrangements to pick up where Qantas has left off, but would need to have certainty with airports.

“We’d love to see our purple aircraft in the Northern Territory skies,” she said.

“To enable that (servicing the route), we need commercial terms in place with Territory airports that allow us to support the wider community and tourism industry, by giving them the ability to travel at low-cost prices.”

Ms Manison said she was “marketing hard” to get more services to Alice Springs, but had not met personally with Bonza despite claiming tourism was “a really important part of the economy there”.

Bonza was founded by CEO Tim Jordan, Lidia Valenzuela and Peter McNally. Investment company 777 Partners, headquartered in Miami, US, owns the majority stake in the budget airline.

The airline grew its popularity before its launch after a call out for public suggestions saw it name its three aircraft Shazza, Bazza and Sheila.

The airline presently services 17 destinations in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.