Monarch Airlines

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<tr><td colspan="3" style="text-align: center; background-color: #FFFFFF;">Image:Logo monarch 229 55.gif</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2">Hubs</th><td>Birmingham International Airport
London Luton
London Gatwick
Manchester Airport</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2">Frequent flyer program</th><td>Vantage Club</td></tr>

Monarch Airlines
IATA ZB	ICAO MON	Callsign MONARCH
Founded		1967
Fleet size		28
Destinations		20
Headquarters		Luton, England, United Kingdom
Key people		Bill Hodgson, Don Peacock, Alan Snudden, CBE
Website: [1]

Image:Monarch alicante.JPG

Image:Airbus A320-200 Monarch Airlines GLA.jpg

Image:Airbus A330-200 Monarch Airlines GLA.jpg

Monarch Airlines is a charter and scheduled airline based in Luton, England. It is one of the UK's largest charter airlines operating to Europe, the USA, the Caribbean, India and Africa serving mainly leisure destinations. It also operates scheduled flights (under the Monarch Scheduled brand) to Mediterranean destinations and the Canary Islands. Its main bases are Birmingham International Airport (BHX), London Luton (LTN), London Gatwick (LGW) and Manchester (MAN).

The company holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, it is permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. <ref>Operating licence</ref>

1 History
2 Services
3 Incidents and accidents
4 Fleet
- 4.1 Aircraft orders
5 External links
6 References

[edit] History

The airline was established on 1 June 1967 by Mr. Bill Hodgson and Mr. Don Peacock, with finance from the Swiss Mantegazza and Albek families who own it to this day. It started operations on 5 April 1968 using a Bristol 175 Britannia turboprop. In 1971, Monarch entered the jet age with the Boeing 720 jet. By 1976, all the planes on Monarch's fleet were jets. Alan Snudden, CBE was the chairman of Monarch at this point.

The 1980s was a decade of change for Monarch: in 1981, offices were opened at London Gatwick Airport, Glasgow International Airport and Manchester Airport. In 1985, Monarch applied for scheduled airline licenses, and on 5 July 1986, Monarch Crown Service was inaugurated as a scheduled division of Monarch.

In 1998 Monarch leased two McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft from World Airways to help with its long-haul operations whilst awaiting the arrival of the Airbus A330. The MD-11s were later returned to World Airways upon the arrival of the Airbus A330 in 1999. The Airbus A330 aircraft allowed Monarch to serve long reach charter destinations with a two class seating configuration. 2000 saw the coming of Monarch into the internet age, as they launched their website. In 2002, Monarch unveiled a new livery on their aircraft, and Monarch Crown Service was re-named to Monarch Scheduled. 2002 also saw Monarch disposing the only McDonnell Douglas DC-10 in the fleet (G-DMCA) and donating the Front Section for use at Manchester Airport Aviation Viewing Park. In Nov. 2005 Monarch started flying from Aberdeen (Dyce), Newquay (Now dropped) and Blackpool (Squires Gate) to Málaga.

Due to the lack of additional A330 aircraft on the market, Monarch leased one Boeing 767-300ER from MyTravel Airways (G-DIMB) to expand their long-haul product. Additional destinations were put on the Network Map with services fly from Aberdeen (Dyce), Newquay and Blackpool (Squires Gate) to Málaga.

Monarch have recently added an Airbus A321 from bmi (British Midland) to their fleet and this is based out of Manchester for Scheduled operations to destinations such as Lanzarote. Following the very successful growth of their scheduled network from Manchester, Monarch has become the second largest carrier of passengers from Manchester Airport (1,725,000 in 2005). ^{[citation needed]}

Another recent announcement from Monarch will bring increased Legroom to their 2 A330-200 Aircraft which will increase Seat Pitch from 30 inches to 31 inches , not being confirmed by the airline when this will take place the increase will bring the legroom to that carried by British Airways.

In August 2006, Monarch ordered 6 new Boeing 787-8 aircraft, worth $916 million at list price, for use on long-haul routes. Delivery will commence in 2010 onwards. These aircraft will become the basis of the future long-haul operations of the airline, replacing the mix of B767s, airbus A300s and airbus A330-220s currently used on medium- and long-haul routes. ^{[citation needed]}

In the world of Model airplanes, Monarch has contracts with several airplane model companies, such as Wooster, Flight Miniatures, etc.

[edit] Services

Monarch Airlines operates scheduled services to the following international destinations: Alicante, Almería, Barcelona, Faro, Gibraltar, Granada, Lanzarote, Lisbon, Las Palmas, Málaga, Menorca, Murcia, Palma de Mallorca and Tenerife, with Jerez and Ibiza to join the network in Summer 2007.

Monarch airlines also operates charter flights to a number of destinations for other tour operators, these include Male, Orlando Sanford, Goa, Cancun and Cuba. Monarch is the largest airline provider of such services, which effectively lease aircraft out to tour operators for a flight.

A weekly service to Deer Lake Newfoundland operates from London Gatwick on behalf of UK holiday company Barwell Leisure, for the Humber Valley Region. Flights are operated by Boeing 757's.

Monarch Airlines also operates a Winter Ski Charter service to Calgary, Canada. With 2 flights weekly from both Manchester and London Gatwick, it provides a link for skiers to ski the Canadian Rocky Mountains from December to April.

It will inaugurate nonstop service as follows, using Airbus A320 :
London Luton-Almería & London Luton-Ibiza on May 2006 : 4 & 5 flights a week.

It will also increase frequency on a number of routes at London's Luton for the summer 07 season (compared to the summer 06 season) as follows to :
Faro = from 5 to 7 flts a week.
Málaga = from 7 to 13 flts a week.
Palma = from 1 to 9 flts a week.

[edit] Incidents and accidents

A Boeing 757-200 en route Luxor-Manchester was forced to make an emergency landing at Athens on June 12 2006 after the pilot fell ill.
Two asian men, reported to the cabin crew as "suspicious" by other passengers, were disembarked from a Málaga-Manchester flight when the remaining passengers attempted a "mutiny", on 16 August, 2006. <ref>Mutiny as passengers refuse to fly until Asians are removed - Daily Mail.20 August 2006</ref>

[edit] Fleet

The Monarch Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (at August 2006):

Monarch Airlines average fleet age is 12.2 years old in August 2006

[edit] Aircraft orders

6 Boeing 787-8 for delivery from 2010 through 2013, with purchase rights held for a further 8 Boeing 787-8 aircraft. <ref>Flight International, 3-9 October 2006</ref>