The flaw in the `head honcos` argument is that you can`t pre order them, as you would be able to on Jet2. Being a newly reformed cynic I suspect that minimum quantities will be loaded but maximum publicity will be given..Although I do hope I`m wrong....

Will put them to the test in June out of Manchester...

Shame as i thought the previously available to order meals on Monarch were not bad at all, but that was under the previous regime :E

I think the new meals will be long life dry stores, cooked to order.

Manchester A321 Fleet
 

Anyone know, has the Manchester 321`s been refitted with the new `slimline` seats yet, or will they be before this summer?..Thanks

Should say I know the fleet does move about, especially in the summer..

It's a great idea using ambiant meals. There will be a lot less wastage compared to unsold sandwiches which get binned at the end of every shift. The ambiant meals can be offloaded and reloaded as many times as needed. A very good move.

I know the A320 leased from Air Malta has had it's lease extended, but does anyone know how long the lase has been extended by?

Another A320 has been acquired from Vueling, so there will be 9 A320's in the fleet this summer. (Source: Jethro)

It should be in service by mid April.

How many aircraft are based at LBA
is it a mixture of a320 & a321

Looks like the aircraft was stood down last October and has been in storage in Lourdes.

Monarch will be leasing an A320 from SmartLynx this summer which will be MAN based operating on most likely all routes except GIB (I would Imagine not anyway):
Monarch partners up with SmartLynx for the Summer | Monarch Blog

fjencl. To answer your earlier question, the LBA Monarch base is currently one A320.It will be two aircraft from this weekend in time for the new season. LBA usually only sees Monarch A321s when they are substituting for absent A32Os.

Ouch! how much money are they wasting having Smartlynx cabin crew on that? let alone the PR/Customer Service aspect

All cabin crew on-board will be English speaking, with two pilots in the cockpit of the 174 seat aircraft.

I hope the pilots do speak English... point is you're talking about 3-4000 hotel nights for their crew vs using your own, with the costs already taken care of and the flexibility to swap around with sickness etc. not rocket science

Sorry what is the difference between using Smartlynx this summer and then using Jet Time last summer?

Also, TCX used Smartlynx last summer and didn't have too much of an issue.

Monarch airlines owner said to be considering exit after just 17 months

It has already been commented on in the Luton thread that Monarch's greatest asset could be its Gatwick slots paving the way for the airline to disappear.

What could stop a takeover was the Monarch Pension fund but it seems a way to off load the liabilities and to slash the payments to staff has already been put through.

Monarch pilots? pensions slashed in move to PPF | Money | The Guardian

Should the British public vote for "Brexit" in June then Ryanair may need an airline with a UK AOC. The 737MAX's Monarch have on order would fit into the Ryanair fleet. Plus Ryanair get a base at Gatwick!

Amethyst.

You've been listening to too much anti-Brexit scaremongering!

A Brexit would make no difference to the UK's membership of the open skies area, which also includes non-EU Morocco and Israel.

I think you may be mistaken. though not for the first two years after a UK vote to leave the EU, during which, of course, a continuation of the deal may be made - though this may well require UK to sign up to the EEA, and the conditions that are attached to that.

Returning to the Monarch issue, I would suggest that every business is for sale, if the right offer comes along

Not all European countries sign up. For instance Ryanair, cannot operate to Turkey except from Ireland and the Swiss are also very strict on ownership rules.