Monarch Airlines
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Monarch Airlines, simply known as Monarch, was a British
charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...
and scheduled airline founded by Bill Hodgson and Don Peacock and financed by the Swiss Sergio Mantegazza family. The company later became a low-cost airline in 2004 before abandoning charter flying completely. The airline's headquarters were based at London–Luton, and it had operating bases at
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, Leeds/Bradford, London–Gatwick and
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
. When Monarch entered administration in 2017, it was the biggest airline collapse in UK history up to that point, leaving nearly 100,000 passengers and holidaymakers stranded. However, on 23 September 2019,
Thomas Cook Thomas Cook (22 November 1808 – 18 July 1892) was the founder of the travel agency Thomas Cook & Son. He was born into a poor family in Derbyshire and left school at the age of ten to start work as a gardener's boy. He served an appren ...
also collapsed, leaving 150,000 people stranded, and went on to become the largest UK airline ever to collapse. The airline held a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Type A Operating Licence. This licence allowed Monarch to carry passengers, cargo, and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.


History


1960s

On 5 June 1967, Monarch Airlines was established by a pair of British businesspeople, Bill Hodgson and Don Peacock, both of whom had previously been
director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...
s at the airline
British Eagle British Eagle International Airlines was a major United Kingdom, British independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline that operated from 1948 until it went into liquidation in 1968. It operated scheduled and charter servi ...
.Hooker, Lucy
"Monarch's rise and fall charts British holiday trends."
''BBC News'', 3 October 2017.
Unlike typical airlines at the time, Monarch was founded with the express intent of conveying British holidaymakers to tourism hotspots and desirable getaway destinations throughout Europe. Particularly at a time when air travel was traditionally feasible only to the rich, Monarch took another unusual step. The airline's ambition was to promote the service towards the demands and needs of the average family, rather than it being marketed solely for wealthier clients. The business was operated as a subsidiary of Globus Getaway Holdings and received financial backing from the Swiss Sergio Mantegazza family.Maslen ''Airliner World'' July 2008, p. 33. At the time of Monarch's inception, the Mantegazza family were the owners of UK-based
tour operator A tour operator is a business that typically combines and organizes lodging, accommodations, meals, sightseeing and transportation components, in order to create a package tour. They advertise and produce brochures to promote their products, holi ...
Cosmos Tours.''Brown Eager to See Monarch Reigning.''
Travel Trade Gazette Archive issue, 16 February 2007.
Maslen ''Airliner World'' July 2008, p. 32. Sister company Engineering Limited (which would later become Monarch Aircraft Engineering Limited) performed maintenance on the company's aircraft."History."
''Monarch Aircraft Engineering'', Retrieved: 26 October 2017.
On 5 April 1968, Monarch commenced commercial airline operations. Monarch conducted a charter flight from
Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, England, situated east of the town centre, and is the fourth-busiest airport serving London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Limited, a company wholly owned by ...
,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
to
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, Spain, using a Bristol 175 Britannia 300
turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...
formerly operated by British airline company
Caledonian Airways Caledonian Airways was a wholly private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations charter airline in the United Kingdom formed in April 1961. It began with a single 104-seat Douglas DC-7#DC-7C, Douglas DC-7C aircraft lease, ...
. The airline's initial fleet comprised a pair of Bristol Britannias (both ex-Caledonian Airways) serviced in a single hangar at Luton. During 1969, the firm's second year of operation, Monarch was able to acquire additional Britannias from the
administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...
s of troubled airline British Eagle.Hales-Dutton ''Air International'' February 2010, p. 48. Shortly after, the airliner reached a milestone in the form of 250,000 passengers carried within a 12-month period, which at that point was operating an expanded fleet of six Britannias.


1970s

During 1971, Monarch entered the
jet age The Jet Age is a period in the history of aviation defined by the advent of aircraft powered by jet turbine engines and the social and cultural changes fostered by commercial jet travel. Jet airliners were able to fly higher, faster, and farth ...
, having completed arrangements for the acquisition of an initial batch of three Boeing 720B jetliners to its fleet. The airline's first commercial jet service took to the air on 13 December 1971. Co-founder Bob Hodgson later praised the low noise levels of the Boeing 720, favourably referring to them as being "whispering giants". The introduction of the company's first jet aircraft type also coincided with the adoption of a revised
livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol, or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery often includes elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...
. By the 1970s, there was a strong demand amongst the wider British population for the package holiday format, to which Monarch was able to capitalise upon greatly. During 1972, the airline recorded having carried 500,000 passengers with the space of a single year for the first time. However, during the
1970s energy crisis The 1970s energy crisis occurred when the Western world, particularly the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, faced substantial petroleum shortages as well as elevated prices. The two worst crises of this period wer ...
, in which the price of oil spiked dramatically, many airlines experienced periods of considerable financial hardship. One of Monarch's rivals in the package holiday sector, Court Line, was forced into
receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver – a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights" – especia ...
. While the company took on several former staff from Court Line, Monarch itself was not immune to these difficulties either. By 1976, Monarch had transitioned to an all-jet fleet, following the sale of the airline's last Britannia to Greek cargo charter airline Afrek on 21 May of that year.Stroud ''Flight International'' 9 April 1977, p. 969. Two years earlier, the airline had retired its last passenger-configured Britannia, which operated the type's final commercial passenger flight in Europe on 9 October 1974. The changeover to an all-jet fleet was brought about as a result of (first) the acquisition of a further two second-hand Boeing 720Bs, as well as (second) the addition of a pair of
BAC One-Eleven The BAC One-Eleven (BAC-111, BAC 1-11) is a retired early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-seat airl ...
500s, sourced from (first) British Caledonian and (second) the administrators of the failed Court Line respectively.


1980s

At the end of 1980, Monarch Airlines took delivery of its first new jet aircraft, a pair of
Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...
-200 Advanced. Monarch acquired the aircraft on an
operating lease The expression "operating lease" is somewhat confusing as it has a different meaning based on the context that is under consideration. From a product characteristic standpoint, this type of a lease, as distinguished from a finance lease, is one wh ...
from Bavaria Leasing (then a unit of Hapag Lloyd Airlines)."New operators for Boeing 737"
''Flight International'', 18 October 1980, p. 1493
One of the newly delivered 737s operated from Tegel Airport in then
West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...
(in the days before the
German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...
) at the beginning of the 1981 summer season. The
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
-based aircraft operated short to medium-haul charter flights to the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands under contract to Flug-Union Berlin, at the time one of West Berlin's leading package tour operators. Monarch had taken over Flug-Union Berlin's charter programme from Laker Airways. The addition of the 737s expanded Monarch's fleet to 11 jet aircraft, comprising one Boeing 707-320C, five Boeing 720Bs, three
BAC One-Eleven The BAC One-Eleven (BAC-111, BAC 1-11) is a retired early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-seat airl ...
500s and two Boeing 737-200 Advs. During 1981, new stations opened at Gatwick,
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
, Manchester and Berlin Tegel''Berlin Airport Company, April 1981 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1981 making it the first time Monarch Airlines carried a million passengers in a single year. 1981 was also the year Monarch became the first charter airline to order the
Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the trijet Boeing 727, 727, received its first orders in August 1978. The ...
-200, a high-capacity medium-haul single-aisle plane powered by
Rolls-Royce RB211 The Rolls-Royce RB211 is a British family of high-bypass turbofan engines made by Rolls-Royce Holdings, Rolls-Royce. The engines are capable of generating of thrust. The RB211 engine was the first production turbofan#Three-spool, three-spool e ...
-535C engines. Monarch's 757 order represented a significant change for a small airline. The first delivered 757 entered service in the spring of 1983, coinciding with the introduction of an updated livery, the third in the airline's history. During the mid-1980s, sister company Monarch Aircraft Engineering Limited opened several new facilities at Luton to expand the firm's maintenance capabilities. Amongst other things, it enabled the 757 fleet to be maintained in-house. During spring 1985, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) awarded Monarch licences to commence scheduled services to
Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
,
Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from , later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Mallorca. Its capital is Maó, situated on the isl ...
and
Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...
. These licences allowed the airline to launch its first-ever scheduled service from Luton to Menorca on 5 July 1986, under the brand name "''Monarch crown service''". This event signified the first time in which Monarch was in direct competition with rival airlines, rather than just as a component of a tour operator. During 1986, Monarch acquired their first Boeing 737-300 airliner. From November 1988, four of Monarch's 737-300s were leased out to Euroberlin France, a Berlin Tegel-based Franco-German joint venture airline that was 51% owned by
Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...
and 49% by
Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...
. Apart from the aircraft itself, Monarch Airlines also provided the flight deck crew and maintenance support (through sister company Monarch Aircraft Engineering) for this airline. By 1990, seven 737-300s are assigned to the Euroberlin wet lease. On 1 May 1988, Monarch operated the first
ETOPS The Extended-range Twin-engine Operations Performance Standards (ETOPS) () are safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for Twinjet, twin-engine commercial passenger aircraft operations. They are a safety measu ...
Transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...
operation under CAA regulations. The Boeing 757-200ER G-MONJ operated Luton to Orlando via Gander with 235 passengers. This operation became the first British-operated twin-jet ever to cross the North Atlantic with passengers. Since then, this feat has become commonplace for North Atlantic crossings. That same year, Monarch Airlines reached another milestone; the firm carried more than two million passengers within a year.


1990s

In 1990, Monarch introduced the
Airbus A300 The Airbus A300 is Airbus' first production aircraft and the world's first Twinjet, twin-engine, double-aisle Wide-body aircraft, (wide-body) airliner. It was developed by ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', now merged into Airbus SE, and manufactured f ...
-600R, its first
wide-body A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft and in the largest cases as a jumbo jet, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . ...
aircraft type. Monarch also opened a new purpose-built headquarters that housed the airline's Boeing 757
flight simulator A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...
at its Luton base. During the early 1990s, the company operated several
Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified ...
-300ER wide-body aircraft on behalf of Alitalia Team, a subsidiary of Italy's
flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by that government for international operations. Histo ...
, under a wet-lease arrangement similar to a previous deal Monarch formed with Euroberlin France. In 1993, Monarch Airlines introduced the
Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...
aircraft followed by the larger
Airbus A321 The Airbus A321 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short to medium range, Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body, commercial passenger Twinjet, twin engine jet airliners; it carries 185 to 236 passengers. It has a stretched fuselage which was ...
in 1997. The Airbus A320 replaced the airline's fleet of Boeing 737-300s. After 1995, Monarch came under increasing pressure from newly formed budget airlines. It would eventually stop all charter flying ten years later. This announcement was in response to customers abandoning Monarch's offering of package tours in favour of independent tours on seat-only low-cost airlines. During May 1997, Monarch Airlines launched a new scheduled route between
Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
and Luton, with additional flights to Gibraltar by the company established from Birmingham, Gatwick and Manchester. Monarch continued to operate flights on the Gibraltar-Luton route until the firm's collapse. During the late 1990s, a new in-flight service referred to as Monarch Plus, included pre-booked seats, free headsets and improved dining options, such as
duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...
breast instead of
turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
stroganoff, for an additional £30 per person. During 1998, Monarch Airlines leased a pair of
McDonnell Douglas MD-11 The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner manufactured by American manufacturer McDonnell Douglas (MDC) and later by Boeing. Following McDonnell Douglas DC-10, DC-10 development studies, the MD-11 ...
wide-body aircraft from American airline
World Airways World Airways, Inc. was an American airline headquartered in Peachtree City, Georgia in Greater Atlanta. During the regulated era that ended after 1978, World was a supplemental air carrier. After US airline deregulation in 1979, the company op ...
for its long-haul operations. This lease was interim for the delivery of a pair of new
Airbus A330 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body airliner developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus began developing larger A300 derivatives in the mid–1970s, giving rise to the A330 twinjet as well as the Airbus A340 quadjet, and launched both designs along ...
-200 wide-body aircraft. Following the arrival of the A330 in 1999,"Long-range workout, Monarch long haul charters"
''Flight International'', 17–23 November 1999, p. 45.
Monarch opted to return the leased MD-11s to World Airways. The adoption of the A330 wide-bodies permitted Monarch to serve long-haul charter destinations with a two class seating configuration, which was another first for the airline.


2000s

During 2002, Monarch retired the sole
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the Douglas DC-8, DC-8 for long-Range (aeronautics), range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; i ...
from service and donated it to the Manchester Airport Aviation Viewing Park. That same year, Monarch also unveiled a brand-new livery – the airline's fourth. Also, the company rebranded its Monarch Crown Service scheduled division as ''Monarch Scheduled''. Monarch Scheduled continued to offer a full-service product, including free catering, bar service, hot towels, newspapers and
in-flight entertainment In-flight entertainment (IFE) refers to entertainment and other value-added services available to aircraft passengers during a flight. Frequently managed by content service providers, the types of in-flight entertainment and their content vary s ...
(IFE). During 2003, Monarch Scheduled announced that it would open a new base at
Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...
. On 1 May 2003, this base opened, initially offering services to
Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...
, Faro and
Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
. On 15 December 2004, Monarch Scheduled announced that it would open a new base at
Birmingham Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Bor ...
. The station opened in April 2005 with new routes to Málaga and Tenerife. In 2004, following the success of the low-fares, no-frills airlines such as
easyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airlin ...
, Monarch decided to adopt a modified low-cost model, featuring additional charges for food and drink. In 2005 (until 2010), Monarch leased a Boeing 767-300ER from MyTravel Airways (which then became
Thomas Cook Airlines Thomas Cook Airlines Limited was a British charter and scheduled airline headquartered in Manchester, England. It was founded in 2007 from the merger of Thomas Cook Group and MyTravel Group, and was part of the Thomas Cook Group Airlines. It s ...
) to expand its long-haul fleet. During November 2005, Monarch opened a base in
Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
. The airline based one Airbus A320 aircraft there. Monarch launched three scheduled services from Málaga to
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
,
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
and
Newquay Newquay ( ; ) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is a civil parishes in England, civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries with an airport and a spaceport, and a fishing port on t ...
. The Málaga-Newquay route was discontinued on 30 April 2006. About a year later, Monarch retired the Málaga-Blackpool service due to low demand. On 27 October 2007, the airliner withdrew the Málaga-Aberdeen route as well, resulting in the closure of Monarch's Málaga base. To operate scheduled services from Manchester, an Airbus A321 was acquired. Monarch became the airport's second-largest passenger airline in 2005 with 1.72m passengers using its services from/to the airport. Monarch's total passenger numbers increased from 4.55m in 2002 to 6.5m in 2008. In August 2006, Monarch ordered six Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner widebodied jets, primarily for use on long-haul routes. Delivery was planned to start in 2010; however, delays to the 787 project pushed back delivery to 2013,Hales-Dutton ''Air International'' February 2010, p. 46. and in September 2011, the airline announced the cancellation of the order, citing its strategic decision to concentrate on its short-/medium-haul operations. On 27 April 2007, Monarch Airlines started flights to Ibiza partnered with club brand HedKandi, naming the partnership "FlyKandi". One of Monarch's Boeing 757s (G-MOND) received a special FlyKandi livery with
billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
FlyKandi titles and a special tail motif. The HedKandi partnership lasted for the 2007 summer season, with flights to Ibiza sold from four major UK airports. It was then renewed for the 2008 summer season, offering the same services. This time FlyKandi livery was applied to G-MONJ. HedKandi CDs and radio stations were available for purchase and to listen to onboard Monarch aircraft. In October 2007, Monarch became the first airline in Europe to accept PayPal as a flight payment option on its website. During 2008, Monarch changed the name of its website from ''flymonarch.com'' to ''monarch.co.uk''. It also changed its advertising slogan to "The Low Fare Airline That Cares". During 2008, Monarch provided the aircraft, an Airbus A321, to launch the
ITV2 ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...
television programme '' CelebAir''. Celebrities were trained and took on duties performed by airline staff, such as cabin crew. The destinations to which ''CelebAir'' flew were mainly Monarch's scheduled destinations, including Málaga, Alicante, Tenerife, Faro,
Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...
,
Mahón Mahón (), officially Maó (, ; formerly spelled ''Mahó''), and also written as Mahon or Port Mahon in English, is the capital and second largest city of Menorca. The city is located on the eastern coast of the island, which is part of the ar ...
and
Larnaca Larnaca, also spelled Larnaka, is a city on the southeast coast of Cyprus and the capital of the Larnaca District, district of the same name. With a district population of 155.000 in 2021, it is the third largest city in the country after Nicosi ...
. These flights carried fare-paying passengers. The programme first aired on 2 September 2008. The programme has now finished with Lisa Maffia winning the series, Amy Lamé finishing second and
Chico Slimani Yousseph "Chico" Slimani (born 1971) is a Welsh singer who rose to prominence in the United Kingdom after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2005 series of the talent show ''The X Factor''. In 2006, he had a number one hit on the British cha ...
finishing third.


2010 to 2014

After many years of operating profitably, Monarch Group, the
parent company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
of Monarch Airlines and Cosmos Holidays, reported a large pre-tax loss of £32.3m in the financial year ending in 2009. This loss necessitated a £45m cash injection from the Mantegazzas who had co-owned the group since its inception. Monarch Airlines also changed its focus from being primarily a charter airline to becoming a predominantly "scheduled leisure airline." Monarch targeted 80% of its business to being "scheduled" (compared with only 20% in 2005). The new strategy resulted in the introduction of additional scheduled services to new destinations in Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Spain and Portugal, including the launch on 23 May 2011 of a three-times-weekly scheduled service to the Greek island of
Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...
— the airline's first scheduled Greek destination – from London Luton.''The Sunday Times (Business: Swiss billionaires bail out ailing Monarch – again''), Times Newspapers Ltd, London, 30 October 2011 Monarch abolished all
debit card A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either ...
charges in favour of a single £10 flat rate applied to credit card transactions. This change was a bid to increase the airliner's attractiveness as a viable alternative to
EasyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airlin ...
and
Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...
, its main low-cost competitors. To highlight these differences as additional selling points, Monarch introduced the advertising slogan ''Fly Your Way Every Day''. Monarch also introduced a rebrand incorporating the airline's old capital "M" and crown, as well as the airline's fifth livery. Although Monarch made a £1.4m profit in 2010, it reported a £45m loss in the financial year ending 31 October 2011. This loss was a result of high
jet fuel Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by Gas turbine, gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for ...
prices against the backdrop of a stagnant economy, as well as political turmoil in the Middle East. Higher fuel prices increased the airline's annual fuel bill by £50m. On 3 November 2011, Monarch received a £75m rescue package for the airline. Monarch also announced a launch of 14 additional routes serving new destinations in Italy, Croatia and Greece from their bases. The new flights commenced at the start of the 2012 summer season. Monarch also received two Airbus A320 aircraft to support the increased level of activity. The addition of these aircraft was the first stage of a medium-term plan to increase the fleet size to 40 aircraft in support of the airline's goal to carry 10 million passengers annually. Growing the fleet to increase passenger numbers was supposed to allow the airline to spread its fixed costs over a higher
output Output may refer to: * The information produced by a computer, see Input/output * An output state of a system, see state (computer science) * Output (economics), the amount of goods and services produced ** Gross output in economics, the valu ...
level, resulting in greater
economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of Productivity, output produced per unit of cost (production cost). A decrease in ...
.''The Times (Business: Monarch makes a soft landing after £45m loss''), Times Newspapers Ltd, London, 4 November 2011 On 3 May 2012, Monarch announced that they were to open a new base at East Midlands Airport in Autumn 2012. The new station will replace some routes previously flown by Bmibaby, who ceased operations completely on 9 September 2012. On 8 May 2012, the airline announced operations from Leeds/Bradford with two new winter destinations,
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
and
Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...
. They also announced plans for a large expansion in summer 2013. On 10 July 2012, Monarch announced a launch of a new base at Leeds/Bradford with 12 new destinations. The base opened on 22 March 2013. As of mid-2012, Globus Travel's shareholders included Amerald Investments (88%), Atlantic Financial Services (7%) and Abaco Holdings (4%). On 13 December 2012, Monarch announced that they had come on board as a new sponsor for
Leeds United AFC Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
. This sponsorship promotes Monarch's base and routes at
Leeds Bradford Airport Leeds Bradford Airport is located in Yeadon, West Yorkshire, Yeadon, in the City of Leeds, City of Leeds Metropolitan District in West Yorkshire, England, about northwest of Leeds city centre, and about northeast from Bradford city centre. ...
. On 1 July 2013, Monarch announced an order for a further two Airbus A321s. The aircraft was due to be delivered in April and May 2015, but it changed to just a single A320 in April 2015. On 12 December 2013, Monarch announced that Monarch Airlines had returned to profit in the year ending October 2013 and that passenger numbers were up 9.5% to 7 million and in line to carry more than 10 million by 2016. In the same announcement, Monarch confirmed that it planned to order 60 new aircraft in an order worth $6 Billion for delivery up to 2024 and would announce the successful tender in Q1 of 2014 from either Airbus/Boeing and Bombardier. In July 2014 the airline announced that it had selected Boeing, with the 737MAX, as the preferred bidder for 30 new aircraft."Monarch Airlines selects Boeing as preferred bidder for Fleet Replacement"
boeing.co.uk July 2014
Monarch confirmed the order in October 2014, with deliveries due to take place from Q2 of 2018."monarch finalizes order for boeing-737-max-8s"
monarch.co.uk


2014 to 2017: troubles and end of operations

In August 2014, Monarch announced it was undergoing a strategic review of the company which would involve cost reduction initiatives. As part of the plan, Monarch announced the closure of their East Midlands base on 14 August 2014. The company also embarked on a heavy redundancy exercise and reduction of payroll mainly aimed at onboard cabin management in preparation for the company sale in October 2014. On 24 October 2014, Monarch Holdings was acquired from the Globus Travel Group by the private investment company and turnaround specialist Greybull Capital. This purchase, for a nominal sum, was just hours before Monarch's licence with the Civil Aviation Authority expired. Greybull was to own 90% of the airline, with the remaining 10% held by the group's pension fund and provide access to £125m of new capital. As part of the deal, Monarch announced that it would downsize its fleet from 42 to 34 aircraft, as well as renegotiate leases on ten aircraft. Monarch will also cease long-haul and charter operations from April 2015, converting to a low-cost model focusing on short-haul leisure routes. However, the new finance was said to secure the order for 30 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft signed up to at the 2014 Farnborough Air Show. Following the downsize in operations, Monarch Airlines carried 5.7 million passengers during 2015, a 19% reduction compared with 2014. However, demand for flights on Monarch's major holiday routes to
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and Turkey continued to fall because of passenger fears raised by the Syrian civil war, the Egyptian political crisis and the
2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt In the evening of 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, organized as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup d'état against state institutions, including the government and president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They attempted ...
. On 25 September 2016, online rumours surfaced about Monarch Airlines' imminent bankruptcy, which the airline strongly denied. The Civil Aviation Authority had commenced commandeering spare planes from other airlines for potential repatriation of British citizens at short notice. However, in the following days, Monarch obtained additional funds from shareholders, and on 30 September 2016, its Civil Aviation Authority ATOL licence was temporarily extended until 12 October. On 12 October 2016, Monarch Airlines successfully retained its ATOL licence after it received an additional £165m in investment funding. At the time, the cash injection was believed to have come from Greybull Capital. However, one year later, it was revealed that
Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
had provided the majority of the sum to save the struggling airline. In September 2017, reports emerged of Monarch facing difficulties over its license, as had happened in the previous year. On Saturday 30 September 2017, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) extended Monarch's licence for 24 hours due to financial issues. Once again the Civil Aviation Authority had commenced commandeering spare planes from other airlines which included ten planes from
Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. (, ''al-Qaṭariyya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the flag carrier of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke network, flying to over 170 internatio ...
. Furthermore, although Monarch had received an extension to its license, it tripled fares. These price increases showed a deliberate attempt to effectively price itself out of the market and reduce exposure to any claims. During the late evening on 1 October 2017, the airline cancelled late-night flights to Ibiza at the boarding stage as the deadline for its licence loomed. On the morning of 2 October at 03:19 BST, the airline's final flight, ZB3785 from
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
to
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, landed. Shortly afterwards at approximately 04:00 BST, the CAA confirmed that Monarch Airlines (along with its subsidiaries) ceased operations with immediate effect and had entered administration. This announcement left 110,000 passengers stranded overseas, and 300,000 future bookings cancelled. A total of 38 aircraft from 15 European, Middle Eastern, and Canadian operators, including
Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. (, ''al-Qaṭariyya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the flag carrier of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke network, flying to over 170 internatio ...
(10 aircraft), Titan Airways (five aircraft),
Air Transat Air Transat () is a List of airlines of Canada, Canadian airline headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1986, it operates scheduled and charter flights serving 60 destinations in 25 countries. Air Transat is owned and operated by Transa ...
(four aircraft), Freebird Airlines and Wamos Air (three aircraft each), and smaller numbers from other airlines and charter operators, were chartered to repatriate British citizens from abroad. The aircraft used for the operation ranged in size from a Boeing 737-300 to a
Boeing 747-400 The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747. The ''Advanced Series 300'' was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, target ...
. In total, the operation cost £60 million, funded by the Air Travel Trust Fund which in turn is funded by an airline and passenger levy. The operation was the UK's biggest ever post-war repatriation at the time. Two years later, Thomas Cook made an even bigger collapse. Monarch was also the largest airline ever to have ceased trading in the UK until the collapse of Thomas Cook in 2019. The causal factors of Monarch's demise were various. First, vicious competition and excess capacity on routes to southern Europe from other low-cost rivals must have played a part in this scenario. Second, travel fears resulting from terrorism in North Africa and also around Europe such as the military coup in Turkey and the 2016 Nice truck attack became the suspect reason. Third,
Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
fears caused the depreciation of the pound sterling, which increased operating costs such as fuel costs, aircraft leasing costs, and airport landing fees. In April 2021, Monarch Airlines was dissolved after moving out of administration.


Cabin and services

As Monarch positioned itself as a low-cost carrier, the airline offered several services for an optional extra fee. This included options such as hold luggage, increased luggage allowance, allocated seating, priority services and in-flight catering. Cabin Monarch's aircraft operated in an all-economy layout. Several extra space seats were located towards the front of the cabin and adjacent to exit doors. In-flight entertainment Monarch provided an in-flight magazine named ''Passport''. Its contents included travel guides, a map of Monarch's destinations, interviews and company news. In-flight catering and retail Monarch offered food and drink available to purchase on board all flights. The menu included a range of hot and cold food items as well as hot and cold drinks, alcoholic beverages and soft drinks. A range of onboard tax-free/duty-free goods was available to purchase from the ''Love to Shop'' inflight magazine. Vantage Club loyalty scheme Monarch operated a loyalty scheme named Vantage Club. It rewarded regular customers travelling with the airline with additional travel privileges and benefits. There were three membership tier levels - Indigo, Silver and Gold.


Corporate affairs

At the time of closure Monarch's head office, along with that of Monarch Group, was in Prospect House, on the grounds of
London Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, England, situated east of the town centre, and is the Airports of London, fourth-busiest airport serving London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Limited, a comp ...
.


Ownership and structure

Monarch Airlines was part of the Monarch Group, of which the holding company was Monarch Holdings Ltd., which is 90% owned by Greybull Capital. The group's pension fund holds the remaining 10%. Other subsidiaries of the Monarch Group include Monarch Holidays (previously branded as Cosmos Holidays, but reverted to Globus in 2017), Monarch Hotels, Avro Flights, and Monarch Aircraft Engineering Limited (MAEL). Following the collapse of the other companies, MAEL would survive for another 15 months as a stand-alone company focused on third-party maintenance checks. Burdened by the debt load of the collapsed airline, MAEL would meet the same fate as the rest of the Monarch business on 4 January 2019, with portions sold off piecemeal to competitors


Business trends

Operational activities over recent years, broken down between scheduled and charter flights, were:


Fleet


Fleet at closure

At the time of closure, the Monarch Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft:


Historical fleet

Monarch had operated the following aircraft in its history:


Awards

* FlightOnTime.info Most Improved UK Charter Airline for Punctuality – Summer 2007 * Travel Trade Gazette ''Airline of the Year – Leisure'' 2006 and 2007 * TravelWeekly Globe Travel Awards – ''Best Charter Airline'' 2009, 2010 and 2011 * World's greenest airline ITB Berlin travel show – ''The number 1 greenest airline'' 2011 * TravelMole Best Airline Website 2012


Accidents and incidents

* On 14 January 1985, a Boeing 757, registration G-MOND, flying Monarch Flight 390 from
Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...
to Luton suffered two mid-flight explosions. Soon after, the aircraft lost electrical power, and smoke began filling the cabin, leading to an emergency landing in Portugal. The cause was leaking lavatory fluid which had come into contact with electrical wiring, resulting in severe electrical arcing. This event created smoke and power surges and caused the aircraft's electronic flight interfaces to fail and blank out. It was the first known British-operated aircraft to suffer a severe
Kapton file:Kaptonpads.jpg, Kapton insulating pads for mounting electronic parts on a heat sink Kapton is a polyimide film used in flexible printed circuits (flexible electronics) and space blankets, which are used on spacecraft, satellites, and variou ...
-related problem. * On 22 May 2002, a Boeing 757-200, registration G-MONC, suffered structural damage to the forward
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...
in the area of the nose
landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...
during landing at
Gibraltar Airport Gibraltar International Airport, previously known as North Front Airport, is the civilian airport that serves the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The runway and aerodrome is owned by the Ministry of Defence ...
while operating a flight from Luton. The
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
had used an incorrect landing technique, applying full nose-down
elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...
. This control input resulted in a high pitch-down rate at nosewheel touchdown, exceeding the design limits, before the aircraft's nosewheel had touched the ground. No fatalities occurred. * On 17 March 2006, the flight deck crew of a Boeing 757-200, registration G-MONE, lost visual contact with the
runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...
after passing the Visual Decision Point (VDP) while attempting to land at
Gibraltar Airport Gibraltar International Airport, previously known as North Front Airport, is the civilian airport that serves the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The runway and aerodrome is owned by the Ministry of Defence ...
. During the subsequent
go-around In aviation, a go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on Final_approach_(aeronautics), final approach or has already touched down. A go-around can either be initiated by the pilot flying or requested by air traffic control for var ...
, the crew did not follow the correct
missed approach Missed approach is a procedure followed by a pilot when an instrument approach cannot be completed to a full-stop landing. Initiation A missed approach may be either initiated by the pilot or instructed by air traffic control (ATC). The instru ...
procedures. However,
air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...
(ATC) provided effective heading control to avoid striking the high ground. The lowest
altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum (geodesy), datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometr ...
of the aircraft when overland was . (The highest point overland, just south of the
airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...
, is . Following the incident, ATC and Monarch Airlines changed their procedures to reduce the chances of repeating a similar occurrence.Monarch Accident G-MONE
/ref>


See also

* List of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* ''British Independent Airlines since 1946'', Volume 3 of 4. A.C. Merton Jones. Merseyside Aviation Society & LAAS. Liverpool, 1976. . * * (various backdated issues relating to Monarch Airlines, 1968–2007) * * * * * * * * *


External links


Monarch website from
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{{Airlines of the United Kingdom Group Voyagers British Air Transport Association British brands Defunct European low-cost airlines Airlines established in 1967 Companies based in Luton 1967 establishments in England 2017 disestablishments in England Airlines disestablished in 2017 Defunct charter airlines of the United Kingdom Defunct companies of England British companies established in 1967 British companies disestablished in 2017 Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom