BHX - JSI
 

Hi.

Im flying out this July BHX - JSI

The return flight is via Kavala, so would i be right in guessing the AC will be A320? Or would an A321 still be unable to power off Skiathos and back to BHX without a refuel?

Only time ive flew out of JSI was on a TCX 757 which didnt require a refuel.

Thanks

The aircraft operating on this route is indeed an A320. However this has nothing to do with refueling. The same rotation takes place out of MAN on the same day of the week, a Tuesday, and uses an A321. The two flights are as follows:

BHX/JSI MON5838 1055/1430 A320
JSI/KVA MON5839 1515/1605
KVA/BHX MON5839 1705/2050

MAN/JSI MON5624 0805/1150 A321
JSI/KVA MON5625 1250/1340
KVA/MAN MON5625 1440/1830

Actually it is all about refuelling. Neither aircraft can operate non-stop from JSI back to BHX/MAN. The a/c either go via Kavala or Volos depending on apron availability at the intermediate point.

I appreciate what you are saying and I won't pretend that I was aware of this beforehand but the question I was answering was whether the aircraft chosen for this route was an A320 as opposed to an A321 because of its inability to make it back to BHX without refuelling (i.e. the questioner implied they had guessed the a/c was an A320 due to the fact it stopped along the way)

As you kindly pointed out, neither the A320 nor the A321 can make it back without refuelling but it is not for this reason that this aircraft was used. I illustrated the point that fuelling had nothing to do with the decision as to which aircraft was used by highlighting that an A321 is used on the same route from MAN (and not an A320).

In this respect, which aircraft is chosen has nothing to do with refuelling and I would imagine that the aircraft on these routes is down to the charterer’s expected demand for seats.

Just out of interest, Monarch also has a flight from MAN-JSI on the B752 which also returns via Volos to pick up and drop down pax. The details are as follows:

MAN/JSI MON7026 0920/1305
JSI/VOL MON7027 1405/1440
VOL/MAN MON7027 1530/1930

The reason the aircraft has to refuel on the return trip, is because the Skiathos runway is too short for a A320/321 or a B737 with a full tank of fuel and a full load of passengers.
The B757 with it's extra power and performance can get off the short runway with enough fuel for the trip. Good plane, I'll miss it!
When you come in to land at Skiathos and look down it looks like an aircraft carrier, there is sea at each end of the runway. When you take off there isn't much tarmac left when the wheels leave the ground!
Very nice place for a holiday though, lovely beaches especially Banana beach!

G-ZBAI
 

G-ZBAI currently en route BHX as MON553P.

Anyone know what the A330 and B752 schedules are for the upcoming summer season?


Thanks in advance!

Monarch are providing the flight for the competition on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway and I can see from the itv website that the flight is leaving LBA on Sat 5th April. Does anyone know what aircraft type is operating the flight and will it be direct ?

@goldeneye
heard it's a 757

Refuels on both legs.

A330/B757 Summer Schedules
 

Going off the timetables for a week in peak August

LGW 1 x A332/2 x B757

Monday - A332 - AM - CFU - B757 AM - DLM/FAO PM - PMI/VRN/DLM

Tuesday -A332 - AM - SSH - B757 AM - KVA/CHQ

Wednesday - A332 - AM - TAB - B757 AM - PMI/RHO PM - DLM/LCA

Thursday - A332 - AM - SFB - B757 AM - ALC/ZTH PM - FAO/DLM

Friday - A332 - AM - TFS PM - DLM - B757 AM - BCN/VOL PM - TFS/CFU

Saturday - A332 - AM - SFB - B757 AM - MJT/DLM PM - DLM/PMI/ALC

Sunday - A332 - AM - PVK PM - FAO - B757 AM - PVK x 2 PM - PMI/DBV

MAN 1 x A332/1 x B757

Monday - A332 - AM - CFU - B757- AM - DLM PM - DLM

Tuesday -A332 - AM - TFS PM - TFS - B757 - AM - CHQ PM - HER

Wednesday -A332 - AM - SFB - B757 AM - RHO PM - DLM

Thursday - A332 - AM - SSH - B757 - AM - ZTH PM - ZTH

Friday - A332 - AM - SFB -B757 AM - JSI PM - PMI

Saturday - A332 - AM - PMI PM - SSH - B757 - AM - MJT PM - PMI x 2

Sunday - A332 - AM - PMI PM - TFS - B757 - AM - VRN PM - SSH

Not long til the 757's pop off to where ever their going to, hope it's not to the scrap man far to good to be broken up. :)

I was really hoping that someone might of done a posky 757 monarch with the new decals on.

Interestingly the last few 757's appear to be younger than a couple of the A321's and both of the A330's.

If you're looking at dates on airfleets, you need to click on the reg for history. The three B757s date from 1987-88!

I may well be mistaken then, I suspect the dates I read (2000ish) were when they joined Monarch, or even rejoined after being leased out to another operator. Interesting to see an almost 15 year age difference between the oldest and youngest A321's though!

I'm not sure whether you would get 25/26 years out of a 321 like many airlines have out of the 757.

The two 320s that were scrapped in November were 21 years old and working beautifully.

Does anyone know if these are in Pieces yet? Apparently it took an A300 last year 7 months before that got scrapped :)

What happened to the "early 2014" announcement on the new (Airbus ;) ) narrowbody order ?

Order
 

New MD starts 01/04/14 (tomorrow) .... maybe waiting so he can make the announcement.

60 aircraft order on April Fool's day? They could be a better day to announce it...

Monarch are in a league of their own when it comes to engineering.

CabinCrewe, don't forget the 5xA350 order.:D
Long haul product needs a revamp !

Long Haul
 

It really does, awful compared to the competition - a 29-30" pitch and 9 abreast seating on an A330 must be torture on a 9-10 hour flight. Oh and did I mention there is no ife? In fact their premium product is on par with the latest TOM/TCX economy products! I know long haul has not been much of a focus for Monarch recently but surely a cabin refresh and the removal of a couple of rows of seats could help them compete with TCX/TOM a little better.

The dont really need to compete. Their long haul flights are essentially full and if people are still paying and using it, why do they need to invest in an expensive upgrade ? (MON are often some of the cheapest flight only deals to Florida). I certainly wouldn't touch it, but lots are.

The problem is that if you sit on your laurels someone will come along and steal your CROWN also a bad experience on a long haul flight will likely put you off a short haul flight, just being better than Ryanair is not good enough, Thomson & Norwegian and Jet2 on a good day are better in terms of comfort

Remember they cancelled the B787 then extended the time they were keeping the A332s. I think the focus on the moment is on sorting out short haul where the bulk of the losses came from, A300s and B757s going. There's no focus on long haul and they might step away entirely.

This is very true, those god awful hi-fly A340s were a huge let down for anyone looking for a new flame proof Norwegian B787.

For those who are interested, the flight from LBA on Saturday for that Ant & Dec show is on G-MONJ.

G-MONJ landed at BHX at 2100

CabinCrewe

If I'm not mistaken, the long haul programme is 100% charter, so it matters not whether the flights are full or not, since tour operators have paid for the seats anyway.

If the tour operators transfer their allegiance to another carrier, then that becomes a problem, unless the 330s can be be utilised on high density short haul ITs to the usual bucket and spade destinations instead.

Most of Monarch's long haul charters are for Cosmos aren't they? I.e. Not for a third party but the in-house tour operator

"flight only" have been previously bookable (not through the ZB scheduled arm), but that may or may not be linked with a tour operator such as Cosmos

Most charter flight-only are booked through Avro.

Last A300 flights
 

Does anyone know which flights the A300 will be operating between now and it's retirement on the 13th? Unfortunately it appears to be restricted to just SSH every other day :(

A300 Flights
 

This is what its down to do as things stand at the moment -

4/4 LGW - ACE - LGW
5/4 LGW - GNB - LGW x 2
6/4 LGW - FDH - LGW
6/4 LGW - GNB - LGW
8/4 LGW - SSH - LGW
11/4 LGW - FAO - LGW
12/4 LGW - GNB - LGW x 2
13/4 LGW - FDH - LGW
13/4 LGW - BHX - Final Commercial Flight

It has covered the odd short haul rotation for the 332's in the last couple of weeks so there possibly could be a few extra opportunities if things change.

Thank you very much alex321... Wish I hadn't put it off so long now :(

Anyone know where this one will be based most of the time?

BasilFawlty
 

After the last one entering service in June, the spare will be at BHX. :ok:

Thanks for the info!