Budget Airline News

ITV CelebAir Timetable - Take To The Skies With A C-List Celeb

Fancy taking to the skies with a C-list celebrity. Monarch will be operating the following flights as part of the ITV2 programme CelebAir.

Passengers will be checked in by celebrities at Gatwick Airport and served by a maximum of two celebrities during the flight.

To book seats on a CelebAir flight visit Monarch's website.

CelebAir Timetable

Fri 29th Aug 08 Gatwick to Tenerife - ZB9288 
Fri 29th Aug 08 Gatwick to Faro - ZB9216 
Sat 30th Aug 08 Gatwick to Faro - ZB9214 
Sat 30th Aug 08 Gatwick to Alicante - ZB9252 
Fri 5th Sept 08 Gatwick to Tenerife - ZB9288 
Fri 5th Sept 08 Tenerife to Gatwick - ZB9289 
Fri 5th Sept 08 Gatwick to Malaga - ZB9742 
Fri 5th Sept 08 Malaga to Gatwick - ZB9743 
Sat 6th Sept 08 Gatwick to Alicante - ZB9252 
Sat 6th Sept 08 Gatwick to Mahon - ZB9764 
Fri 12th Sept 08 Gatwick to Tenerife - ZB9288 
Fri 12th Sept 08 Tenerife to Gatwick - ZB9289 
Fri 12th Sept 08 Gatwick to Malaga - ZB9742 
Fri 12th Sept 08 Malaga to Gatwick - ZB9743 
Sat 13th Sept 08 Gatwick to Faro - ZB9214 
Sat 13th Sept 08 Gatwick to Faro - ZB9216 
Fri 19th Sept 08 Gatwick to Malaga - ZB9742 
Fri 19th Sept 08 Malaga to Gatwick - ZB9743 
Fri 19th Sept 08 Gatwick to Ibiza - ZB9292 
Fri 19th Sept 08 Ibiza to Gatwick - ZB9293 
Sat 20th Sept 08 Gatwick to Larnaca - ZB9718 
Sat 20th Sept 08 London Gatwick to Ibiza - ZB9292 
Sat 20th Sept 08 Ibiza to Gatwick - ZB9293 
Fri 26th Sept 08 Gatwick to Tenerife - ZB9288 
Fri 26th Sept 08 Tenerife to Gatwick - ZB9289 
Sat 27th Sept 08 Gatwick to Alicante - ZB9252 
Fri 3rd Oct 08 Gatwick to Tenerife - ZB9288 
Fri 3rd Oct 08 Tenerife to Gatwick - ZB9289 
Sat 4th Oct 08 Gatwick to Larnaca - ZB9718 
Fri 10th Oct 08 Gatwick to Alicante - ZB9264 
Fri 10th Oct 08 Alicante to Gatwick - ZB9265

CelebAir Takes Off With Monarch Airlines

Monarch will be sharing its 40 years of aviation experience with a host of famous faces from Monday 14 July, as its sets about training a group of celebrities, who must measure up to Monarch’s standards and take on roles across the airline including cabin crew, check-in and ticket desk.

The training is in anticipation of a new ITV2 show, CelebAir, which will be televised in the Autumn and will see the celebrities working for the airline over an eight week period. During this time they will be flying customers from London Gatwick to a host of top European destinations as they battle it out to become CelebAir’s star employee and win money for their chosen charity. Faced with the challenges and situations that are presented to Monarch staff on a regular basis, the celebrities will be rated and judged by their own customers as well as Monarch staff, with the worst performing celebrity each week being given the boot.

CelebAir flights will operate to destinations such as Faro, Alicante, Malaga, Ibiza, Menorca, Tenerife and Cyprus, with customers being able to book seats on these flights via www.monarch.co.uk/celebair. A Monarch airbus has been rebranded and will operate in CelebAir colours until the end of the series, with CelebAir customers booked on flights being served by celebrities on the ground and in the sky, as they all endeavour to deliver Monarch’s exemplary customer care whilst keeping a smile on their faces at 35,000 feet!

Commenting on the CelebAir partnership, managing director of Monarch Airlines, Tim Jeans said, "As the most experienced airline in the UK, who better to provide the support and infrastructure for the celebrities and CelebAir than Monarch? Celebrating our 40th anniversary this year, no UK carrier has a better knowledge of the airline industry than we do and we are proud to be sharing this expertise with the celebrities and taking responsibility for their training and mentoring."

Also commenting on CelebAir, Zai Bennett, Controller of ITV2 said: "CelebAir promises to be a huge reality event this autumn on ITV2. It is an incredibly ambitious project on a scale not seen before in reality TV. This definitely isn't a show for work-shy celebrities, we're taking on a real plane, with real passengers with real holidays to go on - it promises to be an amazing trip."

Prior to starting work, the celebrities will all undergo and pass Monarch’s rigorous six-week training programme which is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and they will be required to adhere to these standards whilst working for CelebAir. They will be monitored and mentored by Monarch staff at all times, with the pressure on to remain a CelebAir crew member for as long as possible and ultimately win the show!

CelebAir will be televised on ITV2 in the Autumn, with seats on CelebAir flights being available to book from Monday 14 July. For further information on the programme visit www.itv.com/celebair or www.monarch.co.uk/celebair.

Monarch Travel Group Launches Monarch Holidays

The Monarch Travel Group comprising Monarch, the leading low fare scheduled and charter airline and Cosmos, the UK’s largest independent tour operator, has launched ‘Monarch Holidays’, a new direct sell brand which will be marketed direct to consumers via the Monarch website.

In addition to its full range of low fare scheduled and charter flights, hotels, apartments and villas in all the most popular holiday destinations, the Monarch site will now offer totally flexible holiday packages worldwide as well as an extensive choice of travel ancillaries.

Monarch Airlines and Cosmos are both experts in travel with their respective customers benefiting from over 40 years of flight and tour operator experience. However, with consumer buying habits changing dramatically in recent years and the growth of booking flights, hotels and holidays online, the group has moved to consolidate its expertise, bringing all highly respected brands together on to the one website and offering the maximum flexibility for all travel elements at the lowest possible price.

Commented Peter Brown, Monarch Travel Group Chief Executive: “Research undertaken with our customers across all our brands has shown that they want flexibility in their travel arrangements to meet their increasingly demanding lifestyle. Bringing all our travel components together in this way will offer this flexibility and offer customers a greater choice of flights, holiday durations and accommodation options, whilst at the same time offering a seamless booking process. The cost savings achieved by uniting our brands can also be passed on to our customers resulting in the most competitive prices in our sector.”

“Within a very short space of time we aim to have one of the most dynamic, web-based booking environments in the marketplace and to be able to offer our customers a ‘one stop shop’ for all their travel needs.”

Cosmos Holidays is to remain the dedicated brand available via all Cosmos-appointed travel agents.

Monarch is re-launching services between Manchester and Gibraltar

Award winning low fares airline Monarch is re-launching services between Manchester and Gibraltar, with a three times a week service commencing in September.

The route, which was withdrawn in July 2006, will operate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 12 September and is now back on sale via www.monarch.co.uk. Fares start from £48 one way, including all taxes and charges.

Commenting on the re-launch of flights from Manchester to Gibraltar, managing director of Monarch’s scheduled services, Liz Savage said, “We are delighted to be bringing direct services to Gibraltar back to the Northwest which will operate in addition to our ongoing services from Luton. There continues to be huge demand for flights from our customers, and this has been reflected by the number of requests that we have received from them over the past few years.

“Gibraltar provides an ideal gateway to both The Rock plus the many holiday hotspots in Southern Spain. Combined with Monarch’s low fares and high care ethic, the route will undoubtedly prove to be a welcome addition to Monarch’s destination portfolio from Manchester, where it remains the largest scheduled international carrier operating from the airport”.

Monarch operates scheduled flights to Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal and Cyprus from Birmingham, London Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester airports and was named as Leisure Airline of the Year in recent Travel Industry Awards for the second year in succession. In addition to year-round low fares, Monarch also offers a unique range of tasty hot and cold meals onboard with prices from £3.00. Seats can be pre-booked at £5 per one-way flight to avoid the last minute free-for-all experienced on some other airlines, or from only £15, extra-legroom seats are available, which offer up to six inches of extra space. Regular travellers are rewarded too, with a range of benefits through the airline’s loyalty scheme, Vantage Club.

Passengers travelling on scheduled flights can also avoid the queues at the airport and take advantage of online check-in which is available between seven days and 4.5 hours prior to departure.

Monarch Airlines – Official Airline Partner of The Golf Show 2008

Award winning low fare airline, Monarch, has been named as the Official Airline Partner of two of Europe’s largest golf shows for 2008, and will undertake a series of activity around the events to highlight its network of destinations which provides access to some of Europe’s top golf courses.

The London Golf Show and NEC Golf Show are expected to attract over 50,000 visitors this year. With more people playing golf in the UK than any other outdoor sport, the shows will provide a truly interactive experience for golfers, enabling them to test their abilities on the indoor driving range and iconic floating green, as well as introducing them to new and innovative golfing products and services.

Commenting on the partnership, the managing director of Monarch’s scheduled division, Liz Savage, said: “Monarch is delighted to be a part of the 2008 golf shows which will provide a fantastic channel through which to communicate with the UK’s four million golfers. Research that we conducted in 2007, has proven golf as one of the leading hobbies for Monarch customers*, which is reflective of the destinations to which we fly throughout Europe”.

“Spain and Portugal came out as the top two countries in which to place golf overseas, with 78% of Monarch’s golfers surveyed confirming that they arrange two or more overseas golf holidays per year. With golfers being such a core audience for Monarch already, a partnership with the shows is a natural step to enable us to highlight the destinations to which we fly, as well as our year-round low fares and superior service.”

Also commenting on the partnership, managing director of the Golf Show Group, Andy Barwell said: “We’re delighted to have Monarch onboard as Official Airline Partner. It’s great to be associated with a market-leading company, particularly with the benefits they’ll be passing on to our visitors. They are already offering special fares and deals to our consumers and we also have flights to give away before and at the shows, it’s a great start to what looks like being a superb partnership.”

Monarch operates scheduled flights to Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal and Cyprus from Birmingham, London Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester airports and was named as Leisure Airline of the Year in recent Travel Industry Awards for the second year in succession. In addition to year-round low fares, Monarch also offers a unique range of tasty hot and cold meals onboard with prices from £3.00. Seats can be pre-booked at £5 per one-way flight to avoid the last minute free-for-all experienced on some other airlines, or from only £15, extra-legroom seats are available, which offer up to six inches of extra space. Regular travellers are rewarded too, with a range of benefits through the airline’s loyalty scheme, Vantage Club.

Passengers travelling on scheduled flights can also avoid the queues at the airport and take advantage of online check-in which is available between seven days and 4.5 hours prior to departure.

For more information or to book, visit www.monarch.co.uk or call 0871 225 3884.

Monarch - A Low Cost Airline That Actually Cares

A low fare airline that cares about its customers? An unusual concept for many, but one that is the norm for award winning low fare airline, Monarch. The airline is unique in its sector by committing to offer low fares and high levels of care to its 4 million annual customers.

As the longest established airline brand still flying, Monarch is expert at running an airline and looking after its customers - and is not shy about admitting it! Every aspect of a customer’s journey, from booking a flight, inflight and post flight has been scrutinised as the airline looks to simplify the travel experience and make it as seamless as possible.

Monarch is set apart from its competitors by offering customers convenient flight times and a personable flying experience in the care of its expert crew. Customers have the option to beat the queues at the airport with online check-in* and stretch out during their flight in a pre-bookable extra legroom seat. These factors, together with an award-winning website, an innovative frequent flyer programme and a UK based Call Centre are the reasons that 85% of its customers return to Monarch time and time again.**

To highlight Monarch’s unique commitment to care and the introduction of a new website address, www.monarch.co.uk, the airline has launched a new style advertising campaign, which focuses on the benefits of flying with the airline and the low fares available to a range of great destinations throughout Europe.

Commenting on the changes, managing director of Monarch’s scheduled services, Liz Savage said, “It is a given that cheap flights are available now throughout Europe. Customer research has shown us that customer’s expect to pay low fares to fly but are not prepared to compromise on the levels of care they receive from their airline – and quite rightly so! With 40 years flying experience behind us, customers have huge trust in Monarch and our ability to look after them, which is something that we are very proud of and are committed to continuing for the future.”

Monarch operates scheduled flights to Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal and Cyprus from Birmingham, London Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester airports and was named as Leisure Airline of the Year in recent Travel Industry Awards for the second year in succession. In addition to year-round low fares, Monarch also offers a unique range of tasty hot and cold meals onboard with prices from £3.00. Seats can be pre-booked at £5 per one-way flight to avoid the last minute free-for-all experienced on some other airlines, or from only £15, extra-legroom seats, which offer up to six inches of extra space are available. Regular travellers are rewarded too, with a range of benefits through the airline’s loyalty scheme, Vantage Club.

Passengers travelling on scheduled flights can also avoid the queues at the airport and take advantage of online check-in which is available between seven days and 4.5 hours prior to departure.

For more information or to book, visit www.monarch.co.uk

Monarch Airlines Anounce New Flights To Cyprus And Menorca

Award winning low fares airline monarch.co.uk is strengthening its network from London Gatwick and Manchester, with the launch of three new scheduled routes for Summer 2008. Flights from London Gatwick to Larnaca and Menorca and from Manchester to Larnaca launch from March with fares from only £49* one way including all taxes and web booking discount.

The new services to Cyprus from both London Gatwick and Manchester will operate in addition to Monarch’s recently launched flights from London Luton, which are also being increased for Summer 2008. The airline will now operate up to 14 scheduled flights per week from the UK to Larnaca offering customers more flexibility and lower fares than the high-fare traditional flag carriers and charter services that are currently available.

The airline will also now offer over 140,000 seats to Mahon this Summer, strengthening its position as market leader on the UK – Menorca route. The new services from Gatwick will compliment monarch.co.uk’s existing network of services from Manchester, Birmingham and Luton.

Commenting on the launch of the new services managing director of monarch.co.uk, Liz Savage said, “The success of Monarch’s scheduled flights to Larnaca and Menorca this summer has been phenomenal and we are delighted to be expanding our network to offer more great fares to passengers travelling from Manchester and Gatwick. monarch.co.uk’s flights to Larnaca from Luton launched in March 2007 and we have already carried over 50,000 passengers on them. There has been huge demand from passengers for additional scheduled services to Cyprus however and the launch of flights from Manchester and Gatwick are in response to this.

“The decision to expand our network of flights to the Balearic’s also follows on from our successful launch of services to Ibiza this summer. Monarch.co.uk passengers already benefit from a comprehensive network of flights to Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza and the addition of our new services from Gatwick to Menorca means more people can take advantage of our low fares and award winning onboard service”.

All Monarch’s scheduled flights for Summer 2008, are now on sale via www.monarch.co.uk.

monarch.co.uk operates scheduled flights to Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal and Cyprus from Birmingham, London Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester airports and was named as Leisure Airline of the Year in recent Travel Industry Awards for the second year in succession. In addition to year-round low fares, monarch.co.uk also offers a unique range of tasty hot and cold meals onboard with prices from £3.00. Seats can be pre-booked at £5 per one-way flight to avoid the last minute free-for-all experienced on some other airlines, or from only £15, why not try one of our 48 extra-legroom seats which offer up to six inches of extra space? Regular travellers are rewarded too, with a range of benefits through the airline’s loyalty scheme, Vantage Club.

Passengers travelling on scheduled flights can also avoid the queues at the airport and take advantage of online check-in which is available between seven days and 4.5 hours prior to departure.

Monarch Carries 3.7 Million Scheduled Passengers in 2007

Award-winning low fare airline flyMonarch.com celebrated a record-breaking year carrying 3.7 million* scheduled passengers during 2007 compared to 3.2 million passengers carried during 2006 – a 15.8% increase year-on-year.

The launch of 8 new routes during the year helped passenger numbers surge with the introduction of Birmingham to Ibiza; London Gatwick to Ibiza and Murcia; London Luton to Almeria, Ibiza and Larnaca as well as Manchester to Ibiza and Jerez.

Capacity increases on a number of popular routes and the launch of further new services in 2008 will stimulate further growth for the airline this year. Following on from the hugely successful launch of services from London Luton to Larnaca in March 07, flyMonarch.com will continue its expansion to the Eastern Mediterranean as well as a new service from Manchester to Murcia launching in February.

Passenger traffic for December also went from strength to strength with the airline carrying 184,518 passengers, a 10.6% increase on December 2006.

Monarch’s passenger statistics for scheduled services during December 2007:

Passenger numbers (1)

December 2007: 184,518

December 2006: 166,697

% change: +10.69%

Load factor (2):

December 2007: 73.03%

December 2006: 67.35%

% change: +5.68%

Internet sales percentage (3):

December 2007: 87%

December 2006: 90%

% change: -3%

1. Represents the number of earned seats flown by Monarch. Earned seats include seats that are flown whether or not the passenger turns up because once a flight has departed a no-show customer is not entitled to change flights or seek a refund.

2. Represents the number of passengers as a proportion of the number of seats available for passengers.

3. Represents the percentage of total seats sold via www.flyMonarch.com.

Monarch Launches Scheduled Manchester To Cyprus Route For Summer 2008

Award winning low fares airline flyMonarch.com is to launch scheduled flights from Manchester to Cyprus next year as the airline expands its network to the Eastern Mediterranean in response to huge public demand. The introduction of the five times per week service that will operate direct from Manchester to Larnaca will offer travellers more flexibility and low fares than the high fare flag carriers and charter services that are currently available.

flyMonarch.com’s new Larnaca service will commence on Sunday 18 May 2008 and operate on Mondays, Tuesdays*, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays with fares from £78 one way including taxes and web booking discount (£147 return). Seats are available to book now on www.flymonarch.com.

Commenting on the introduction of services from Manchester to Cyprus, managing director of flyMonarch.com, Liz Savage said, “We are delighted to be expanding our network to the Eastern Mediterranean with the launch of this service from Manchester, a market that has historically been dominated by the flag carriers and charter services.

“We have seen overwhelming demand for our service from London Luton to Larnaca, carrying 50,000 passengers on the route since its launch in March this year and have been inundated with requests from the public to introduce further services to Cyprus from our UK bases. I am sure that the people of the North-West will warmly welcome the introduction of this service from Manchester offering more choice of direct flights and low fares.

“flyMonarch.com’s onboard service is also perfectly placed to provide an ideal level of service for the five hour flight time, with extra leg room seating, inflight entertainment – including full length feature films and the provision of hot and cold food all available.”

flyMonarch.com operates scheduled flights to Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal and Cyprus from Birmingham, London Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester airports and was named as Leisure Airline of the Year in recent Travel Industry Awards for the second year in succession. In addition to year-round low fares, flyMonarch.com also offers a unique range of tasty hot and cold meals onboard with prices from £3.00. Seats can be pre-booked at £5 per one-way flight to avoid the last minute free-for-all experienced on some other airlines, or from only £15, why not try one of our 48 extra-legroom seats which offer up to six inches of extra space? Regular travellers are rewarded too, with a range of benefits through the airline’s loyalty scheme, Vantage Club.

Passengers travelling on scheduled flights can also avoid the queues at the airport and take advantage of online check-in which is available between seven days and 4.5 hours prior to departure.

flyMonarch.com joins forces with PayPal

Award winning low fares airline, flyMonarch.com has joined forces with PayPal, a global leader in online payments, to be the first European airline to offer its customers the ability to pay for flights using their PayPal account.