Monarch Airlines
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Monarch Airlines is a charter airline based in Luton, United Kingdom. It is one of the UK's largest charter airlines operating to Europe, USA, 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 London Luton (LTN) and London Gatwick (LGW).
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History
The airline was established on 1 June 1967 and started operations on 5 April 1968 using a Bristol 175 plane. In 1971, Monarch entered the jet age with the Boeing 720 jet. By 1976, all the planes on Monarch's fleet were jets.
The 1980s was a decade of change for Monarch: in 1981, offices were opened at Gatwick International 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 1999, Monarch received Airbus A330 aircraft, allowing it 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.
In the world of Model airplanes, Monarch has contracts with several airplane model companies, such as Wooster, Flight Miniatures, etc.
Services
Monarch Airlines operates services to the following international scheduled destinations (at January 2005): Alicante, Barcelona, Faro, Gibraltar, Lanzarote, Las Palmas, Málaga, Menorca and Tenerife.
Fleet
The Monarch Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (at June 2005):
- 4 Airbus A300B4
- 6 Airbus A320-200
- 7 Airbus A321-200
- 2 Airbus A330-200
- 7 Boeing 757-200
- 1 Boeing 767-300
Livery
The majority of the fleet are in the old livery of black and yellow cheatlines, with the name Monarch in black on the fuselage, and a black M with a black diamond and three black dots on top of the M at the tail. Newer or newly painted aircraft have gold and indigo colours that sweep along the lower half of the aircraft rising to the tail, which still bears the black 'M' logo with diamond and 3 dots above it.
External Links
- Monarch Airlines (http://www.flymonarch.com/)
- Monarch Airlines Fleet Detail (http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/Monarch_Airlines?show=all)
- Monarch Airlines Passenger Opinions (http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/monarch.htm)Template:Airlines of the United Kingdom