"Congratulations to Monarch!
It's a proud moment for Monarch as it celebrates Its 40th anniversary this weekend and enters into Its 41st year of flying. From launch in 1968 with just two Bristol Britannia aircraft and a total of 94 airline and engineering staff, It Is now one of the UK's leading leisure airlines with almost 3,000 staff, operating a fleet of 31 jet aircraft and carrying over 7 million passengers a year
Monarch is the longest established airline brand still trading and flying under the same name in the UK and we are delighted to be celebrating our 40th anniversary this weekend.
Its certainly been an eventful four decades and we have come a long way from our humble beginnings back in 1968, when a collaboration between Airline Engineering Limited (now Monarch Aircraft Engineering Ltd) and Cosmos, saw the launch of Monarch Airlines and the first commercial service take to the skies - flight OM118 operating between Luton and Madrid on 05 April 1968.
To mark the occasion, we will be operating a celebration flight between Luton and Menorca on Saturday 05 April. Passengers on this flight will check-in at retro branded check-in desks and will be treated to champagne and cakes onboard, all served by Monarch cabin crew dressed in replicas of the original 1968 uniform – complete with yellow mini-dress!
Here are just a few of the 'milestones' in how we've evolved as a business -
In the early 1970s, the expanding holiday industry demanded faster travel. Monarch met that demand by committing to a modern, all-jet fleet: an unusual step in those days. We took delivery of our first Boeing jet - the 720B - and the first jet service took place on 13th December 1971. By 1972, we were carrying over 500,000 passengers.
Ten years later, we were the first charter airline in the world to order the new Boeing 757 - a highly sophisticated twin-engine jet. We ordered four - and Boeing was prepared to work with us to customise the aircraft in exactly the ways we wanted.
By the 1980s, many people wanted to travel independently of package tours. They wanted to book their own flights at flexible and convenient times and organise their own accommodation. Monarch recognised this need and in Spring 1985 we were awarded licenses to Malaga, Menorca and Tenerife - our scheduled division was born.
In 1986 the first scheduled flight took off for Menorca from Luton, flying on a Boeing 737-200 aircraft.
In 1999, we added the Airbus A330 to the fleet. This features the new Premium cabin, with a range of upgraded benefits such as increased seat pitch and width, and in-arm or seat-back video.
Monarch launched its first online booking tool in 2001, allowing passengers to book flights directly with the airline without needing to speak to a call centre or book through a travel agent.
2005 saw us add our first Boeing 767 to the fleet, allowing further expansion of the route network due to the aircraft's extended range operation.
Online bookings made via
www.flyMonarch.com topped 90% for the first time in March 2007.
Look at this 'timeline' to follow Monarch's history at-a-glance:
1969: A fleet of six aircraft carries 250,000 passengers annually.
1971: First jet service (Boeing 720B) comes into operation.
1976: Monarch becomes an all-jet fleet.
1981: Monarch carries over a million passengers this year and offices are opened at Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow.
1985: Scheduled route licences are applied for.
1986: Monarch Crown Service is launched.
1988: 2.5 million passengers are carried.
1990: New purpose-built headquarters is opened at Luton boasting its own Boeing 757 flight simulator.
1996: Monarch Aircraft Engineering adds a brand new hangar in Manchester to existing facilities at Luton.
1999: The addition of Airbus A330-200 aircraft brings two-class seating to the long-haul charter market.
2000: Monarch's website is launched, with on-line booking for scheduled flights.
2001: Monarch carries nearly five million passengers on a large network of both scheduled and charter routes, with a combined workforce of nearly 3,000 people.
2002: Monarch unveils a new livery for its aircraft, plus new corporate colours of indigo and yellow.
2003: Monarch bases aircraft at London Gatwick for the first time with routes to Malaga, Alicante and Faro.
2004: New routes to Gran Canaria and Lanzarote are added from Luton.
2005: Monarch adds Birmingham as a UK base with routes to Malaga, Tenerife, Alicante and Faro.
2006: Further expansion occurs at all UK bases with new routes to Murcia and Menorca from Birmingham and Luton. Monarch also confirms an order for six next-generation Boeing 787 Dreamliners to lead the long-haul fleet from 2010, with three new Airbus A321s joining the short-haul fleet in 2007.
2007: Monarch launches flights to Ibiza from Luton, Gatwick, Birmingham and Manchester, and forms a partnership with dance music label Hed Kandi to target the youth market for the first time - the deal also sees Monarch livery a Boeing 757 with the distinctive Hed Kandi branding.