Monarch Airlines

[Ray Finkle]

Munich has returned but dropped to 3x weekly (Sun has gone). The Saturday Gibraltar has moved to a Sunday and an extra Sharm-el-Sheik added on Saturdays. There's also a few other minor tweaks with times but nothing major.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Munich now no longer bookable beyond end of April

No surprise really.

 

[Ray Finkle]

After ending Munich the aircraft has been quickly deployed elsewhere, Barcelona goes daily from May. There are also a few extra night flights during high season to the usual holiday destinations. This year we are down for 5x A320 and 4x A321 but the extra A320 but may yet be changed to an A321.

Not much from the recent consultative committee meeting but this is possibly the only thing worth mentioning.

Monarch - has announced two new routes for summer 2013 from Birmingham to Split in Croatia
and Bordeaux. The new routes will both operate three times a week from May 2013. The airline’s
planned capacity from Birmingham during 2013 now stands at 1.3m passengers – and increase of
36% year on year. Monarch continues to examine options for basing more aircraft at Birmingham.

If one could have been sourced then a 10th based aircraft would have been great this year, lets hope we get one for next year.

 

[Aviador]

Hi Ray, It's good to see the aircraft being deployed on an alternative route.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Summer 2014 now out, only had a quick look but the big highlight is April which has more than double the abysmal offering of this year.

Almeria, Barcelona and Bodrum all operating unlike this year. Dalaman also 5x weekly from zero this year. Rome only 3x weekly but Venice, Mahon and Nice not back till May.

Kefalinia looks to be appearing from May.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Just one new route for next year, Hurghada Tuesday's and Friday's from May 2nd. It's a shame we couldn't have got Agadir too.

http://www.birminghamairport.co.uk/meta ... -2014.aspx

 

[Ray Finkle]

Hurghada will continue into winter 14/15, apart from that it looks to be as you were.

06 December 2013

Monarch, the leading scheduled leisure airline, has announced its winter flying programme for 2014/15 from Birmingham Airport; with all flights on sale from 6th December 2013.

The winter flying programme will see a continuation of year round flights to Hurghada from Birmingham Airport; the Egyptian destination recently launched as part of the summer 2014 flight programme.

The airline will continue to operate its winter programme to the existing destinations of Lanzarote, Malaga, Alicante, Faro, Rome, Madeira, Fuerteventura, Gibraltar, Grenoble, Hurghada, Larnaca, Gran Canaria, Sharm el Sheikh and Tenerife as well as the popular ski destination of Grenoble which was introduced to the flying programme in winter 2012/13.

Iain Rawlinson, Executive Chairman of Monarch Airlines commented: “The continuation of year round flights to Hurghada reflects the strength of the bookings we are already seeing since their introduction to our flying programme for summer 14 from Birmingham Airport. We expect to see good demand for all our routes for Winter 2014/15 and we are sure that the existing winter destination of Grenoble will continue to flourish.”

The Monarch Group recently announced that it will be the first European travel group and airline to roll-out Olympics-inspired customer service training.

The UK’s leading independent travel group has joined forces with the People 1st Training Company to roll-out the WorldHost training programme designed to strengthen the Group’s core commitment to customer service by ensuring that its employees consistently deliver superior experience at every stage of the customer journey.

For more information and to book, visit http://www.monarch.co.uk

http://www.birminghamairport.co.uk/meta ... ngham.aspx

 

[Ray Finkle]

An email from Monarch posted on another forum suggests the details of the enthusiasts A300 flight(s) will be released this week with tickets possibly going on sale Friday.

 

[Ray Finkle]

The A300 enthusiasts flight from LGW-BHX are now on sale, apparently G-OJMR will be the aircraft used.

Thank you very much for your patience in waiting for information regarding a farewell flight on the Monarch Airlines A300. Please see the foot of this e-mail for booking instructions, and the attached document for full details of the event.

Monarch Airlines have taken the decision to keep the Airbus A300 in service until Sunday 13th April 2014, two weeks longer than originally planned. As a result of this, a Birmingham – Birmingham sightseeing flight, or even a series of sightseeing flights will not be possible due to the tight timescales in preparing the aircraft for its departure to the United States.

The decision has been taken to offer seats for sale on a flight from London’s Gatwick Airport to Birmingham International Airport on Sunday 13th April 2014. This will be the very last commercial service operated by a Monarch Airlines Airbus A300-605R. Every seat will be available for purchase on this flight, meaning close to 350 enthusiasts arriving at Birmingham at one time. As a result, the decision has been taken that a hangar tour cannot be accommodated for such a large number of visitors, especially on a Sunday.

The flight is currently scheduled for 1 hour in duration, but we are currently investigating opportunities to extend this to as long as 2hrs either with additional air time, or a touch and go at another airport, at no extra cost to you. Additionally, we are looking in to adding more content to the flight to provide further value for money to you. If and when we are able to confirm this, we will let those that have booked a seat know, via e-mail.

While we acknowledge that you will be arriving in to a different airport than you depart from, Monarch Airlines cannot accept responsibility for returning you to London Gatwick. You will need to make your own travel arrangements. Both Gatwick Airport, and Birmingham Airport are well served by both rail and coach services.

Booking information

BOOKINGS WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE UNTIL 9AM (GMT) TOMORROW, FRIDAY 20th DECEMBER 2013

Booking will be possible by either of the following mediums;

Monarch Airlines website:
Please click on the link below to take you to the booking page. If you have any problems at all, please try entering the route London Gatwick > Birmingham and type in the date manually as follows – 13.04.2014. This should then allow you to book.

Avro Search Results

Due to the unusual nature of this operation, we have had to make special changes to the website booking processes in order to allow online bookings for this flight. Please be patient with the website.

Monarch Airlines call centre:
If you have any trouble with the website, or would prefer not to use it, bookings can be made via the Monarch Airlines call centre. You will be charged for these calls. The telephone numbers are shown below;
If calling from the UK: 08719 40 50 40
If calling from Overseas: 0044 8719 40 50 40

For those of you booking via the call centre, I have created a basic seat map for you to have a look at that may help you choose which seats you are looking for, please see the attached excel document.

If you have any questions or queries regarding booking seats on this flight, please do not hesitate to e-mail me and I will respond to you promptly.

I very much look forward to seeing you on board the flight in April.

Kind Regards

Toby
Monarch Airlines

http://www.monarch.co.uk/flights?aff=awin_mcharter

 

[Ray Finkle]

Book now for the last commercial flight of Monarch Airlines Airbus A300-605R

We are pleased to announce details of the very last commercial flight service on its long serving Airbus A300-605R. On Sunday 13th April 2014, this special Monarch flight ZB300 will depart Gatwick Airport’s South Terminal at 2.40pm, for a leisurely flight to Birmingham International Airport, arriving at 3.40pm.

The aircraft, in 347-seat configuration, will be sold to capacity. Seats on the flight are priced at £74 per person, inclusive of airport taxes and charges. Don’t miss out on this very special opportunity.

The History of the A300 at Monarch

The A300 aircraft type has been in service with the airline since 1990, and has carried more than 20 million holiday makers while in Monarch colours. The final A300 airframe in the fleet, G-OJMR, will be retiring on Sunday, 13th April 2014, having served the airline for 23 years after being delivered new 1991. In a fitting end to this aircraft’s service, the final flight will be piloted by the Chief Pilot of Monarch Airlines, Martin Pound. Martin has served Monarch for over 36 years and in 1991, was the pilot charged with flying the first A300 into service.

Monarch’s A300s are the final passenger-carrying examples in service with a European airline, and with its impending retirement from service, the passenger variant of Airbus’ first entry in to the commercial airliner market, will become a very rare sight in European skies. To celebrate the life of this workhorse of the airline industry, Monarch will be giving enthusiasts one last chance to book on the aircraft by opening up the last commercial flight from London’s Gatwick Airport to Birmingham.

About the flight

On Sunday 13th April 2014, this special Monarch flight ZB300 will depart Gatwick Airport’s South Terminal at 2.40pm, for a leisurely flight to Birmingham International Airport, arriving at 3.40pm.

The aircraft, in 347-seat configuration, will be sold to capacity. Seats on the flight are priced at £74 per person, inclusive of airport taxes and charges.

Customers can select a particular seat at the point of purchase, or afterwards if you choose, subject to availability. Seating will be priced as follows ;

Window Seats: £25 per person
Aisle Seats in window row: £15 per person
Middle Seats in window row: £11 per person
Aisle Seats in middle row: £5 per person
Middle Seats in middle row: £1 per person

This flight will operate as a hand luggage only flight and normal hand luggage restrictions will apply.

http://blog.monarch.co.uk/tickets-avail ... /#comments

 

[Aviador]

It's a shame they can't offer some northern departures too.

 

[Ray Finkle]

I think there will be many people who think the same. This is from the FAQ's

Is it possible to arrange a second flight from another base e.g. Manchester?

We have tried to arrange this flight in order to provide as many enthusiasts as possible with the opportunity to travel on this aircraft, and by making the aircraft available on a Sunday afternoon. There are no plans to arrange a Manchester departure on this aircraft prior to its retirement because the aircraft will be Gatwick-based until 13th April 2014, the date of the farewell flight.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Slight increase in capacity for this summer with 7x A321's and 2 A320's based as oppose to the 5x A321's and 4x A320's last summer. It should see an increase of between 200-600 seats per day.

 

[Ray Finkle]

An article saying Monarch are planning to fly to Agadir from BHX and Leeds. There's no quotes from any Monarch officials so we'll see what happens but still interesting.

Translated by Google as the article is in French.

A memorandum of understanding was signed at the World Trade Market (WTM) by the Director General of the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) Abderrafie Zouiten and Director of Monarch Travel Group, Katy Sayburn.

This MOU provides for the establishment of four flights per week on Agadir, two from the London-Gatwick Airport and two other Manchester, a capacity of approximately 20,000 seats for the summer season 2014 .

These new routes will be operational from 02 May 2014. The British group has also expanded the scope of its activities in Morocco and plans to launch other routes linking the cities of Agadir Saidia and Birmingham and Leeds in the north-west of England.

Full article (in French): http://www.medias24.com/Indiscretions/5 ... tagne.html

 

[thunderchild]

Hope something comes of this; was a bit disappointed that BHX missed out on Agadir.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Me too, I was also hoping for it from Monarch.

 

[Aviador]

plans to launch other routes linking the cities of Agadir Saidia and Birmingham and Leeds

Surely this means Agadir from BHX and LBA are still to come? Apparently local press in Agadir are reporting new flights will commence soon to Birmingham and Leeds with Monarch Airlines?

 

[Ray Finkle]

I would have thought Agadir was a shoe in if/when the next round of expansion comes along. The bit I don't understand is the mention of Saidia, a resort on the north coast of Morocco on the Algerian border with the closest airport being Oujda, which is currently unserved directly from the UK. Assuming the article is correct I imagine it's been lost in translation somewhere along the line and it will be BHX and LBA getting Agadir and maybe Saidia (Oujda) being started from LGW.

 

[Ray Finkle]

A couple of tweaks for the summer, Tuesday mornings BOD has been replaced with a charter BHX-JSI-KVA-BHX and Sunday now sees GIB moving to the afternoon and PVK operating in the morning, this was operated by Flybe last year so it's good to see MON take it on rather than drop it.

It still looks to be 7x A321's and 2x A320's with the only gaps appearing on Tue and Sat mornings and Tue and Wed afternoons.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Just to add to the above with the new schedule Sunday will now see 10 aircraft used, the nine based with GIB operating on a W pattern using a LTN based aircraft.