Monarch Airlines

[lbaspotter]

The following 10x aircraft are been withdrawn for service by Monarch over the next few winter months.

Airbus A320's = G-OZBK, G-ZBAA & G-ZBAB
Airbus A321's = G-OZBP, G-OZBS
Airbus A330's = G-EOMA, G-SMAN
Boeing 757's = G-MONJ, G-MONK & G-DAJB

2x new Airbus A321's will be joining the fleet

 

[lbaspotter]

Also worth noting now that the take over of Monarch has been completed by Graybull Capital it has been announced that the deal to order 30x new Boeing 737-800Max aircraft has now been finalise, with deliveries commencing from 2 quarter of 2018.

Source: http://www.ttgdigital.com/

Monarch finalises aircraft deal
31 October 2014 | By Patrick Whyte

Monarch Airlines has confirmed an order for 30 new 737 Max jets worth an estimated $3.2 billion.

The aircraft will begin being delivered in the second quarter of 2018 and the company has an option 15 more.

The announcement follows last weeks acquisition of The Monarch Group by Greybull capital.

Click the following lick to read the full article: http://www.ttgdigital.com/news/monarch-finalises-aircraft-deal/4693177.article

 

[tleeds]

As much as it is good news, I can't help but think after putting in orders for new Airbus aircraft over the past few years they are now ordering Boeing aircraft, unless they envisage their airline to be a mixed fleet of types.

Also sad to see AA and AB go, as well as the last of their B757 family.. they were always good to see over at MAN and LGW to mention a couple!

 

[Aviador]

I know Monarch can't revolve their company decisions around Leeds Bradford Airport but the Airbus A320 has worked exceptionally well for them from LBA. The aircraft type has suffered minimum diversions away from LBA and it has been able to use the 32 autoland. Will the new 737 Max be able to maintain such an exceptional record for Monarch, I fear not but we'll have to wait and see.

 

[a300boy]

I suspect you are correct Aviador !
The B737 Max may have the same restrictions as the B737-800 series where as the A320 seems to have none.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

On the other hand, the 737-800 has greater range compared to the A320 and, one would assume, the 737MAX8 will be less marginal on some longer routes on which Monarch will no longer have the option to use 757/A330 etc. I would be disappointed if the 737MAX was not a sizeable step forward from the current generation (including landing performance) - what would be the point in creating a new generation otherwise? Considering sales of the 737MAX vs the A320neo have been disappointing, could Monarch have got a bit of a deal from Boeing? A lower purchase cost would certainly be of use to them in the short term. One final thing, is it just me that thinks the A320 wears the Monarch livery better than the 737?

 

[Bigman]

Will Monarch still be at LBA by the time they get them I wonder!!! It would be nice to see 800's of Jet2, Ryanair, Thomsonfly and Monarch all on stand together. Shame we can' t add Norwegian and Westjet to the mix.

 

[a300boy]

As usual a lot of questions and few answers !

 

[752]

Good news as it looks like Monarch may be starting the ALC route a month early!

I stumbled across this on a Spanish forum

'Monarch anticipates the start of the new route between Alicante-Elche and Leeds Bradford updated February 16, 2015 , an advance of just over 1 month. The route will operate 2 times per week (Monday and Saturday) from 16 February to 29 March , which will begin to operate the route three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday)'

Nothing is bookable on the Monarch Website yet though!

EDIT* after checking, the flights are now bookable on the Monarch Website

Both flights departs LBA at 07:30 and arrive back at 14:00

 

[lbaspotter]

Good news Monarch Airlines have started to release Winter 2015/2016 flights for sale this evening. Routes available from Leeds/Bradford so far include Barcelona, Faro and Tenerife. It's a big positive seen as there initial 3 year deal was due to expire at the end of this summer season. So its looking like Monarch have either renewed or even extended there contract with the airport.

No Alicante flights on sale yet, but I'm sure this will become a year round service. I would also expect to see Lanzarote return for the winter along with the possibility of weekly services to both Gran Canaria and Grenoble?

 

[imagineif]

Catch her while you can...

G-ZBAA has a new home assigned and will be leaving Monarch in February for a new life at Frontier Airlines in the US!

Sister ship AB is scheduled to leave Monarch in April once East Midlands operations cease.

 

[752]

Also it seems Monarch have dropped LCA & AYT from Manchester, as on their Twitter page, they are offering customers an alternative of flying from LBA, surely this is good news?!

 

[Aviador]

Crikey, the yield must be better from LBA.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

If this is the case, it is also worth pointing out that it coincides with Ryanair dropping the Paphos route from MAN too. LBA definitely is the bucket and spade option but it is also possible that there is too much capacity to Cyprus from MAN and not enough from LBA. Monarch are in the middle of a restructure and they must feel that replicating those particular routes at MAN and LBA hurts the model. I suspect that, good news as it undoubtedly is for LBA, it will simply mean that Monarch can sell the seats at a higher price at LBA than MAN, thus negating the good news for passengers.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Is a bit worrying that the hedge fund owners are selling the youngest aircraft. If the reason to move Manchester to Leeds is to increase seat revenue this is so short sighted they may as well close the doors now.
The whole idea of becoming a LCC is to take on the likes of Ryanair/jet2 etc in their main locations, not move to a regional airport to get out of the storms.
I am a huge fan of LBA but you could make a case not an airport in the u.k. where you can guarantee 365 day flying, a business that is short of capital needs every penny.
We have just seen with City Link the damage hedge funds can do, City Link like monarch were snapped up by hedge funds after years of losses, selling off good assets does not look good. These guys have form with Comet, they walked away with millions after buying in at the 24th hour.
I would only buy Monarch tickets with a credit card to guarantee my money back. I hope I am wrong but spring 2016 is going to be one of a number of key dates in the Monarch calender.

 

[Aviador]

I take your point but the alternative with Monarch if it's owners had pulled the plug the company would have gone under. Thankfully the hedge fund is now supporting and changing the airline to follow a different business plan. The airlines is still committed to fleet renewal but they are moving away from Airbus towards a Boeing fleet.

 

[lbaspotter]

After 2 years been a Leeds based regular Airbus A320, G-ZBAA looks to have operated it's last flight for Monarch Airlines yesterday. It positioned to Birmingham as MON320P for its end of lease check before heading off to pastures new with Frontier in the USA according to Jethro's fleet listing website.

Looks like Airbus A320, G-ZBAR is the replacement Leeds based aircraft as it operated yesterday's Las Palmas service and has operated todays Tenerife flight.

 

[imagineif]

Monarch don't seem to be getting frequency, demand or capacity right at present.

The LPA has proved unpopular with dismal loads, disappointing but it was announced late on and the frequency does not allow for short stays. Gran Canaria has also had some freak weather this winter with storms & floods. It's a shame it has not worked for them - hopefully Jet2 will continue the year round route, but I would be surprised if Monarch brought it back next winter.

Although some flights are going out with good loads, 100-150 - there are also worryingly low loads leaving. Today's ACE had less than 90 pax on board... a few days ago the Grenoble left EMPTY!!! Really? In SKI season an empty flight...not 1 seat???

I seriously hope this is just a wrong realisation of routes /frequency & demand that can be rectified and not that people are snubbing Monarch after months of uncertainty.

Truly hope they can make a success of the LBA base, I just flew to SSH from MAN - as annoyingly not one Egypt offering from LBA still. Flew on G-ZBAM 9 month old 321 series and it was lovely. Arrived early and impeccable service, cloth seats still - comfortable and more than enough leg room.

 

[752]

I don't think Grenoble has been working for Monarch and can see that getting dropped. As for city breaks, I don't think that worked well for Monarch as we have had Rome and Munich both tried and failed from LBA.

As with LPA, they seem to chop and change the frequencies causing inconsistency and beng inconvenient for travellers

I think/hope ALC will be and all year round route

Have ACE, LPA (if reinstated) at x2 weekly constantly throughout Winter

And announce Sharm or Hurghada for Winter and maybe Malaga could be another year round successful route for them.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

The new plan by Greybull was to cut out many routes, the boss of Monarch Airlines, stated at the change over in Oct last year that in the previous year the airline had bought 3 more aircraft and opened more routes, in an operation that was already stretched too thin, with low yields overall. Pruning was vital.
latest news is that as Monarch had no forward fuel contracts their fuel bill has obviously reduced greater then their rivals, the down side is that Olympic Holidays would seem the first of many to sue due to the changes in the "Contracts for seats"
This case could have a huge effect on the plans for the future direction of the airline.
Hopefully we will get some financial figures soon, booking on line on xmas day were reported to be 80% up, was it like Jet2 the last day of a massive promotion.