Monarch Airlines

[thunderchild]

Nice to see Lisbon back. Will be interesting to see how Madrid plays out.

 

[richard winterbourn]

I take on board the comments re Madrid, but Lisbon is the interesting one, a link with an airport and an airline that serves several destinations in both South America and Africa.

However, at this stage, i would like to know which terminal Monarch will be using? Will they be in Terminal Two along with Ryanair and Easyjet or have they secured facilities in Terminal. I ask this because if it is Terminal 1 it will make transit to Rio, Sao Paulo or African destinations much easier. If it is Terminal 2 then it will lugging your cases on to a bus and a ride back to the main terminal.

It would be even better if Monarch, now a scheduled airline let us remember, could secure code-share facilities with TAP and Iberia. Then everything would be more manageable and less stressful.

 

[Daza]

It looks like the Monarch timetable at Birmingham is changing. I'm not 100% sure of frequencies but AGP is now 14 a week (3 flights on Fri) and LPA is now 5 weekly and FUE is 3 weekly (I'm certain the latter two are increases on the planned timetable). :drinks:
Daza

 

[Ray Finkle]

Definitely a nice bonus. I had a sneaky suspicion about Lisbon but I was not expecting another based aircraft. As for Madrid, well I think something will have to give, three was pushing it but there is little chance for four. There are so many other routes that would have been ideal for a 3x weekly A320, Porto and Pisa are two that jump out immediately. I guess if there is one positive it's that airlines are prepared to fight their corner when it comes to BHX.

New routes:

Lisbon - Sun, Mon, Thur, Fri
Madrid - Sun, Thur, Fri

Increases (flights per week):

Lanzarote +1
Alicante +1
Rome +1
Gran Canaria +1
Fuerteventura +1
Malaga +2
Palma +2
Tenerife+2

 

[User001]

User001 these additional MAN-LIS flights mean MAN has three operators on MAN-LIS and its a much smaller city than MAD.

I'm well aware of that fact. With Monarch going up against a hub carrier that serves MAN 14 times per week (TAP) and Europes biggest and most aggressive low cost at 5 weekly (Ryanair), I don't give the 3 weekly Monarch much hope to be honest, and that's coming from the most positive of MAN fans. Tel Aviv should fare much better however, it's a route ripe for the capacity.

The main point remains, Birmingham-Madrid WILL NOT be able to sustain 4 carriers over the long term, the fare wars will be too much for one or maybe 2 of the carriers. I re-iterate, NO UK regional can sustain 4 carriers to Madrid over the long term.

 

[nwoody2001]

So with new routes to LIS and MAD, plus the additional based aircraft, that appeared to be an additional 18x weekly flights. Quite a shock given their financial state only 12 months ago. That said, with this news, it's shown BHXs largest 3 carriers (BE, MON & FR) have all proposed significant growth for summer 16!

What would be useful to know, with the reduction in flights to Egypt and Turkey, how many flights are there weekly in S16 compared to S15 ...to see how much of this is new capacity and how much is just relocated capacity from other routes!!!

I also fear that in the BHX-MAD battle, to have IBX feeding its hub, DY with service, and FR with money and aggression, I fear the most likely to lose the battle will be MON, and that's from me, a big BHX advocate. That said, if MON are serious about competing with FR in the UK market, then they will have to fight some tough battles!!! BHX-MAD and MAN-LIS may be the start of things to come!!!

 

[Ray Finkle]

Dalaman is still bookable at daily and Sharm is still available at 4x weekly, obviously this may well change in the future.

I agree about Madrid, I'll be surprised if Monarch last more than one season. Anyone fancy the odds of Ryanair now announcing Lisbon? :smile:

 

[Ray Finkle]

After a quick look at the timetable I think Alicante may actually be up two flights, it's 10 weekly now whereas I think it was 8 before? Dubrovnik is also now 3x weekly.

 

[Daza]

re BHX-MAD
Well we all said the same about BHX-BCN and the four airlines have continued, indeed three have increased frequency on BCN in summer 2016. Having looked closer total MAD flights are 14 a week (twice daily) which doesn't seem so excessive when looked at that way. I guess only time will tell. MAD must have some great offers with fees I guess? :crazy:
Daza

 

[Brum X]

Good Evening, well this is a lovely early christmas present, things are looking better and better and it is great to finally have Lisbon direct from BHX. Im sure this route will be very popular just like Rome which has an additional weekly flight. And some healthy increases on the popular med routes but before i change my BHX passenger forecast again, im going to wait until January to see if any reduction in Turkey and Egypt. However if they are basing an additional aircraft then that can only mean a real increase in flights from BHX for monarch so it looks like i will change my figure to over 11 million

Re: Madrid, this is very interesting and appears to be an odd choice, i dont really know how bookings are going with the other 3 but they must of done there homework ?????? So in effect BHX will have 2 x daily flights to Madrid next summer. BONKERS :crazy:

Well chuffed with Lisbon, Cheers Monarch. :rockon: :rockon:

 

[Daza]

Birmingham did support Daily MAD flights with BA many moons ago. Can I just add that I love the emoticons here especially the crazy one! :crazy:
Daza

 

[User001]

The thing with the Madrid flights, is it may be 14 weekly overall, but, it's not 14 weekly in a nice double daily bundle.

Frequency is one thing, but, fare wars are another.

Let's look at the fact Sunday sees all 4 carriers operate, there is still no Saturday flight and Thursday sees 3 out of the 4 carriers operating.

And to answer your deleted comment Daza (yes I did see your little tantrum insult before you deleted it) it's got nothing to do with being 'negative' against BHX, as you put it. Your selective use of the quote function missed the point that I said NO UK regional would be able to support 4 carriers on Madrid, and I even made a point of emphasising that even Manchester would not be able to either, yet, you still found a gripe to pick that I was in some way being deliberately negative about BHX in particular. Could make a good politician with your selective quoting, they are good at misleading people by only giving half the story too.....

And, you also missed the point that far from being 'negative' about every BHX route announcement, I have broken several new route stories for BHX. But still, why let an inconvenient truth get in the way of childish and churlish insults, eh?

 

[Daza]

All of these announcements at BHX seem to be ticking you off....be calm. :drinks:
Daza

 

[jfy1999]

This argument is making me think of TheLocalYokel's remark about followers of airports being like rival football fans. I don't think User001 is getting "ticked off" about BHX, as he's pointed out himself, he's announced some new routes himself, and he's right to argue that BHX is unlikely to succeed where MAN has failed.

When the dust settles on this rash of BHX development (if it settles at all, currently it shows no sign of doing so!), MAN will still be two times bigger than BHX, with its own bunch of new route announcements and rumours for next summer, and it's pointless to just pitch them in a straight shootout against each other. They're each going their own way, but I feel that BHX as a less developed airport can learn quite a bit from MAN, and I say this as a Brummie.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Lets leave it there and get back to topic.

I've not heard whether the Jet Time 737 will be back next year, if so I'm assuming 6x A321, 2x A320 and 1x 737?

 

[jfy1999]

The plane spotter in me is hoping they lease a "heavy" but if they do it'll end up at LGW or MAN as per usual. I think we could see the Privilege Style 757s at some point, like the last two summers, and they might lease something from Titan as well.

I think whether the 737 returns next year depends on how the passengers found the experience on board. There don't seem to have been any news articles written about it, so it's certainly done better than the 737s they leased back in 2012

I fear for Madrid, but Lisbon is great news. I was wondering if there's still any chance of a flight to Israel in summer 2016, because if that's what they had intended, I would have expected them to announce it together with Lisbon and Madrid.

 

[Ray Finkle]

I'm not convinced about Tel Aviv.

Whilst there is a Jewish community in the region I don't think it's a particularly sizeable one compared to other areas? Luton is also very well served and BHX may be seen as direct competition.

Ovda may be one for the future. Eilat was a popular tourist spot back in the day, if it's on the up again then you never know.

 

[Daza]

Tel Aviv would be an interesting destination. My brother is BA CC and says what great nightlife and beach culture. As Ray says I don't think the West Midlands has a large enough Jewish Population to support regular flights to TLV. Manchester and Leeds have significant Jewish populations. Ovda is lovely I went with my family many years ago when Thomson operated from Luton and could be a safer alternative to the Red sea?
Daza

 

[Daza]

Maybe Cape Verde and/or Azores (mass tourism is in its infancy but could develop fast now) could be served by Monarch? I think Thessaloniki and Athens in Greece the former is no longer served from Birmingham. How about Bulgarian coastal airports Burgas and Varna?
These next few years in leisure flying could be interesting? I went to Portugal's Costa Estoril again with Thomson to Lisbon on 737-200 from Birmingham in the 90s and it was lovely! I think holiday makers will be returning to these "old fashioned" but safe holiday destinations maybe MON will be able to sell LIS seats to tour operators?
Daza

 

[Brum X]

Tel Aviv would be an interesting destination. My brother is BA CC and says what great nightlife and beach culture. As Ray says I don't think the West Midlands has a large enough Jewish Population to support regular flights to TLV. Manchester and Leeds have significant Jewish populations. Ovda is lovely I went with my family many years ago when Thomson operated from Luton and could be a safer alternative to the Red sea?
Daza

To be fair though folks, these new flights are probably for British holidaymakers looking to go somewhere different and not for the jewish population who live in the uk and want to see relatives etc so for that reason i dont see why BHX would not get flights. We are not talking El Al here, these are mostly for the holidays and as you have commented Tel Aviv is the eastern mediterannean version of Barcelona, very diverse, bustling and very cosmopolitan. I was thinking of visiting myself until i saw how expensive it is, LOL