Olympic were trying it on with tough bargaining
Maybe .... or is it a case of Olympic not willing to pay a jacked-up asking price.
I have been monitoring the price of Monarch Scheduled prices for June 2011 on a weekly basis since they were released in September. At that time the price for 4 adults on the route that I was interested in was £959. This price was maintained until mid December when the new website with Tax-included prices was introduced and the price shot up to £1029. The current price in their 'Biggest Ever Sale' is £963 which incidentally is 28% higher than their main competitor on the route for directly equivalent services.
Now Monarch Scheduled has for some time been my airline of choice and I have been more than willing to pay that bit extra for the standard of service they provide. However, that bit extra has been getting bigger and bigger each year to the point that I now no longer consider it worthwhile. If this is typical of the pricing structure accross their route network then I have to say that I fear for their future in the low cost market.
If the same pricing situation exists in the Charter sector, then it may well be a case of Olympic showing two fingers to Monarch.