Monarch Airlines launches 10 new routes across four UK bases
We’re reliably informed that the Monarch Airlines A321 in the foreground is operating the inaugural weekly flight from Birmingham to Hurghada. The significance of the LCC to Birmingham is clear, with all that Monarch metal in the rear of the shot.
- Monarch Airlines has used the first week in May to start up 10 new routes from four of its UK bases, with four routes starting from Manchester (MAN), three from London Gatwick (LGW), two from London Luton (LTN) and one from Birmingham (BHX). All but one of the ten routes face direct competition, London Luton to Naples (NAP) being the exception, with six of the routes having two or more competing airlines. Monarch Airline is profiled in this week’s airline analysis.
| Launched | Origin | Destination | Aircraft (WF) | Competition (WF) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 May | London Gatwick (LGW) | Nice (NCE) | A321 (5) | easyJet (34), British Airways (21), Norwegian (4) |
| 2 May | Birmingham (BHX) | Hurghada (HRG) | A321 (1) | Thomson Airways (1) |
| London Gatwick (LGW) | A321 (2) | easyJet (2), Thomas Cook Airlines (2), Thomson Airways (2) |
||
| London Luton (LTN) | Antalya (AYT) | A320 (3) | Thomson Airways (1) | |
| Naples (NAP) | A320 (2) | |||
| Manchester (MAN) | Hurghada (HRG) | A321 (2) | Thomas Cook Airlines (2), Thomson Airways (1) | |
| Naples (NAP) | A320 (2) | Thomson Airways (2), Thomas Cook Airlines (1) | ||
| 3 May | Agadir (AGA) | Thomson Airways (2) | ||
| 4 May | London Gatwick (LGW) | Enfidha (NBE) | A321 (2) | Thomas Cook Airlines (3), Thomson Airways (3) |
| Manchester (MAN) | A32S (2) | Thomas Cook Airlines (3), Thomson Airways (2) | ||
| Source: Innovata / Diio Mi for w/c 6 May 2014. WF = weekly frequency. | ||||
I wonder why Monarch are not flying from Scotland’s busiest airport in Edinburgh, there is very lttle competition there in terms of long haul leisure flights. Orlando in particular being seriously underserved.