Monarch Airlines

[lbaspotter]

Monarch Airline have just issued the following Press Release on its website regarding the launch of the airlines summer 2013 schedule with the second wave of new routes been commenced along with the introduction of the second based aircraft.

Soure: http://www.monarch.co.uk/news/flights/2 ... cabin-crew

Monarch launches new flights from Leeds Bradford Airport with the help of two mini cabin crew

02 05 2013

Monarch, the scheduled leisure airline, yesterday launched its second wave of flights from Leeds Bradford Airport with the help of two new ‘recruits’.

As part of Monarch’s campaign to put the fun back into flying, brother and sister Lewis, aged eight, and Kessia, aged five, from Guiseley, welcomed passengers on board the first flight to depart for the summer season in their specially made mini cabin crew uniforms.

The first flight departing to Rome is one of six new destinations, expanding on the routes already launched in March of this year to Faro, Lanzarote, Larnaca, Majorca and Tenerife. The new routes to Antalya, Barcelona, Bodrum, Heraklion, Menorca and Rome will launch over the coming few weeks, offering passengers from Leeds a wider variety of holiday destinations from Monarch’s sixth base.

In total, Monarch will be operating nearly 700 flights from Leeds Bradford this summer.

The mini uniforms, commissioned by Monarch, were specially designed by former Leeds College of Art student, Mandy Hudson, and modelled by Kessia and Lewis, students at Addingham Primary School, who also attend Starlight Academy in Guiseley.

Kevin George, Managing Director, Monarch Airlines said: “Kessia and Lewis have helped us put the fun back into flying for our passengers at Leeds Bradford Airport this week, highlighting our new routes. It’s great to be able to offer passengers a wider variety of holiday destination this summer from Leeds Bradford Airport. The launch of these new routes from our sixth base, show our continued growth.”

Tony Hallwood, Leeds Bradford Airport’s Commercial Director, said: “Kessia and Lewis did a fantastic job and we are delighted that we could help them fulfill their ambition to become cabin crew for the day. The new 'mini' Monarch recruits certainly put a smile on the faces of passengers boarding the Rome and Heraklion flights with their smart uniforms and professional manner!”
Leeds Bradford Airport is the newest base for Monarch Airlines and opened for this summer season. The first Leeds Bradford based cabin crew completed their training this week and will operate on two brand new Airbus A320 aircraft from the airport.

-ends-

 

[lbia]

Anyone heard the Monarch promotion of Capital FM - "loads of seats free on the flights" (they are giving away tickets to Majorca) - not sure if anyone has seen any Monarch figures, surprisingly the PMI flights that I have seen have been very light, often less than 100 on. Was the same today but the Thomson was fully booked at 189 and Jet2's was 230 - hope they pick up!

A few others had pretty poor figures, Rome had 70 on it the other day but Jet2 was full at 147, I haven't don't any price comparisons but wonder if Monarch's pricing or perhaps lack of Marketing is to blame? Saying that some of the Turkish Holiday ones have had around 150 on so they seem to be selling well.

 

[752]

I have been looking on the Monarch website at the bookings and Antalya, Dalaman and Larnaca seem to be doing very well and looking a few weeks down, so does Palma and Faro, prices for Barcelona and Rome do seem cheap which indicates that they are not selling as well, hopefully towards June and July they will be filling up, great news about Thomson though, does anybody know when we will find out about what Monarch will be offering for 2014?

 

[michael]

not necessarily related to LBA but from looking at FR24 today it appears Monarch have some A321's registered G ZBAF and G ZBAG. Does anyone know if these are new aircraft like our AA and AB or maybe just additions to the fleet? And if so is there an AC, AD, and AE somewhere?

 

[whoshotjimmi]

Anyone heard the Monarch promotion of Capital FM - "loads of seats free on the flights" (they are giving away tickets to Majorca) - not sure if anyone has seen any Monarch figures, surprisingly the PMI flights that I have seen have been very light, often less than 100 on. Was the same today but the Thomson was fully booked at 189 and Jet2's was 230 - hope they pick up!

A few others had pretty poor figures, Rome had 70 on it the other day but Jet2 was full at 147, I haven't don't any price comparisons but wonder if Monarch's pricing or perhaps lack of Marketing is to blame? Saying that some of the Turkish Holiday ones have had around 150 on so they seem to be selling well.

Cost
Publicity
Brand Awareness

It would be silly to cover old ground. So instead I did a little bit of research. Flight only to Palma, 1 adult, outbound Tuesday 18th June, inbound Tuesday 25th June. Results were as follows:

Ryanair 105.94
Monarch 121.48
Jet2 138.00


I then added 1 bag at the lowest allowed weight and, therefore, price:

Ryanair 155.94 (15kg)
Monarch 157.46 (20kg)
Jet2 182.00 (22kg)


For the sake of argument, I then made the baggage weight the same as Jet2's lowest allowance option at 22kg (20 as per the maximum allowed by Ryanair website):

Ryanair 175.94
Monarch 177.46
Jet2 182.00

On the face of it, the best value for money option is, indeed, Monarch. But that is when the publicity and brand awareness kicks in. Ryanair are so well known and Jet2 are so established at LBA that Monarch is, currently, miles behind. I also have a sneaky suspicion that the Jet2 and Ryanair flights will, as of this moment, have more people booked to fly.

Personally, knowing that I travel within 15kg, I would choose the Ryanair option. My experiences with them have been good, their on time record is very good and their flight times are slightly better (on this occasion). It is, however, very hard to ignore the Monarch option. If you travel with a fair bit of luggage, Jet2 is by far the best option as they have, by far and away, the best luggage policy. It is just a shame that their initial fares are so much higher than their rivals.

For the record, the full service airlines charge as follows (with a range of connecting airlines & airports):

KLM 255.50
BA 387.48

I then conducted another search from LBA to Barcelona, outbound Friday, 14th June, inbound Friday 21st June. Flight only prices were as follows:

Ryanair 63.98
Monarch 86.48
Jet2 126.00

With 1 bag at lowest allowed weight:

Ryanair 113.98
Monarch 108.46
Jet2 167.00

At the Jet2 weight (20kg for Ryanair):

Ryanair 133.98
Monarch 128.46
Jet2 167.00

Interestingly, the baggage cost on these flights were lower than Palma for both Jet2 and Monarch. Ryanair remains flat. Again, the Monarch option appears to represent the best value. Both Jet2 and Monarch have significantly better flight times than Ryanair in this instance. As a comparison the full service airlines were as follows:

KLM 206.30
BA 331.88

I would be interested to see if the prices quoted by Monarch remain as competitive once they are more firmly established in LBA but, on these flights at least, they are more than a match for their rivals. Their brand awareness will come in time and it is likely that people had already booked Jet2 and Ryanair before Monarch's full plans became known. With that in mind, I would expect the gap in passenger numbers to close.

 

[ex_crew]

Great to see Monarch showing commitment at LBA.
I wish them all good luck.
The longest running U.K airline to date.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Think it pointless doing a price comparison for flights in the next few months, when the flights have been on sale for months.
The comparison is when the flights issued, lowest price now reflects the airline that needs to sell the seats the most.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

Think it pointless doing a price comparison for flights in the next few months, when the flights have been on sale for months.
The comparison is when the flights issued, lowest price now reflects the airline that needs to sell the seats the most.

I both agree and disagree with this.

I agree that the comparison when the flights are issued is a more realistic comparison and I have skirted around that in my post. Certainly, I have said that cost is a potential issue for Monarch as their prices on issue appear to be slightly higher than both of their rivals. As and when Monarch become more entrenched at LBA and their popularity grows, we shall see how those prices pan out.

However

At this very moment in time, if you choose to go to Barcelona for a week in June, Monarch is the best option. So to do a price comparison at this moment in time is perfectly relevant as far as I am concerned. And I am sure numerous customers will think so too.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Accept what you say about Monarch being the cheapest at this moment, having been the most expensive for many months.
Not an issue for me, wont book with Monarch until they get their aircraft somewhere near to on time.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

I think you have possibly hit a nail on the head. It is something they have to improve. Having said that, they are yet to have any significant problems at LBA.

 

[User0001]

Recent MON loads

Saturday to HER : 151 (84%)
Saturday to DLM : 168 (93%)
Friday to BCN : 148 (82%)
Friday to MAH : 154 (86%)

Kevin George was talking openly at the recent wings ceremony at Rudding Park that bookings were better than expected and they were assessing whether to put a 3rd aircraft in for S14.

 

[User0001]

"Put it in" where? The car park? Can't wait for the incredibly late masterplan.

 

[lbaspotter]

"Put it in" where? The car park? Can't wait for the incredibly late masterplan.

We still have 1 or 2 spare stands, Even more if Jet2 can be persuaded to park their spare summer back-up aircraft down in the pan or over at Multiflight.

 

[lbia]

Jet2 are parking one of theirs on November taxiway most nights.

 

[lbaspotter]

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/65262503" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>

 

[LBA787]

Recent MON loads

Saturday to HER : 151 (84%)
Saturday to DLM : 168 (93%)
Friday to BCN : 148 (82%)
Friday to MAH : 154 (86%)

Kevin George was talking openly at the recent wings ceremony at Rudding Park that bookings were better than expected and they were assessing whether to put a 3rd aircraft in for S14.

I don't have any figures to back it up, but I would say LCA has so far been the best performer. It seems the a/c is near enough full every flight I have seen.

For those unaware Monarch's 320's AA & AB are configured to 174.

:crazy:

 

[Lamix1W]

Just to clarify slightly on something lbia mentioned. Whilst jet2 do park an aircraft ar N4, when they do this there are procedures in place to turn everything east of N3 into basically an apron. Allowing services to attend the aircraft without having to call ATC. Just in case anybody thought they were being parked randomly on an active taxiway.

 

[oldendays]

It bugs me that it's always up to Jet2 to park their aircraft on a non-stand and then tow them from bussing stands to walking stands when the likes of Monarch, KLM etc have cleared off. Then again, the bussing of passengers has always been a bit of a sore point at LBA. Not enough buses, not enough drivers and possibly some airlines objecting to having their aircraft parked on bussing stands in the first place.

 

[lbia]

It bugs Jet2 also...

There are some red bendy buses appearing at LBA soon (one here already) as the busing passengers to aircraft has become a running joke. Lets see if customer waiting times get better...

 

[ls27]

Red buses could be ex London Transport (Arriva) Mercedes artics displaced by Boris Johnson.