A leading industry figure has warned of an autumn “cull” of routes after pulling his airline out of Blackpool.
Monarch Scheduled managing director Tim Jeans said airlines would be axing poorly performing routes when their hedged deals on fuel ran out towards the end of the year.
Jeans was speaking after Monarch Scheduled scrapped its four weekly flights from Blackpool to Malaga, admitting passenger numbers had not met expectations.
The airline had hoped to achieve load factors approaching 90% on the route, but only managed to reach the low 80s. The flights will end on October 27, and the aircraft redeployed to Manchester. Monarch Scheduled said it was not planning to return to Blackpool.
The carrier pulled out of Newquay in April, and Jeans said it now planned to focus on its core airports of Manchester, Gatwick, Luton and Birmingham. Aberdeen will remain its only small regional airport.
The carrier’s withdrawal from Blackpool follows GB Airways’ announcement last month that it was scrapping flights from Manchester to Marrakesh, Malta, Malaga and Las Palmas.
Jeans claimed airlines would be forced to scrap less profitable routes and raise prices in the autumn when their hedging arrangements came up for renewal. The conflict in the Middle East has forced up oil prices, alarming airline bosses. “Routes that are likely to be less than profitable in winter will be culled,” added Jeans. However, Jet2 has said it will start a flight from Blackpool to Malaga next March to fill the space left by Monarch Scheduled.
It claimed it would keep prices low, despite the removal of an alternative service.
Jeans also claimed heavy late discounting on packages by big operators risked “undoing the good work” of no-frills airlines, which had made customers become used to paying more for flights booked near to departure.
He said he had seen Thomson packages to Austria for £169 in August and Thomas Cook holidays in Rhodes for £189.