Thats great news if the schedule remains the same and I will try to remain optimistic, but I am realist(!)...

The problem with Monarch for atleast for the last year or two is, I have noticed their timetables remain very fluid until about a month or two before their winter or summer timetables commence.

Take for example the culling of Munich only a month or two before the summer season.

There has also been lots of talk in the Monarch forum on here and other boards, how Monarch change times and frequencies after people have booked, they seem to have fair few disgruntled passengers because of this of this, who have booked flights to only find out the timings have changed or the flights they are booked on are cancelled.
(Not just talking about the LTN schedule.)

Monarch like to get their summer 2014 schedule out very early!

When you looked at the schedule, did you notice where the extra 14 flights a week were operating to?

Luton is not the only London gateway for such movements whereas these other cities have limited choice. I wonder if you added up LUT, FAB, STN, NHT, LCY, BIG, OXF you would see London is streets ahead...

I prefer the train which is often the cheapest option at weekends. During the week it can still be the cheapest option if a group save ticket is used but generally for peak travel it is expensive.

easyBus= A very bad 1* rated service
Greenline= A 2 coach sollution and save £5 from this banned company
National Express = Rip off fares with the airport taking a slice of the ticket fare.

easyJet crews have been selling tickets for national express, only to find out that these tickets are not valid on the new service, and only valid on the greenline. I always tell passengers to use the train, its fast than the bus.

fr-

Do Easyjet still sell train tickets on their flights?

Passed through security yesterday at 5-15 am and the staff were friendly and very efficient, with virtually no queues. The green buttons on the `How was your experience today?' pads were taking a hammering. Domestic only so didn't have the face the Border faff - have things similarly improved with the time taken to cross or is it still the very long queue at peak periods?

A FEW JOTTINGS
 

Flew out today Wednesday arrived at 04.45 checked in with Monarch no queue at security - very friendly and in the departure lounge at 04.55. Terminal very busy but seemed to cope although still seems to be a slight lack of seats - how about a few opposite Pret A Manager or whatever it is called.
I was told by a very reliable source that on Saturday evening there was a total of 153 business aircraft on the ground at Luton - what recession!
More construction work taking place near the cargo apron so that a new Harrods hangar can be built next to the one already constructed.
Heard a rumour that the entertainment at half-time at the Champions League Final was to be the Central Band of the Royal Air Force playing a medley of famous British film scores but it turned out only to be a rumour!

C3B - It is a new Signature hangar, not Harrords, please keep up :E

Oops sorry Pabely, thanks for correcting me. What I saw of the airport last week - very busy but seemed to be coping very well.

Actually it was neither. An embankment has been removed so that this area next to the Harrods hangar area can become a ground equipment parking area. Once that has been completed and the equipment moved work can start on the new hangar next to the cargo terminal.
I had a look last week and one of the 20ft sound blocking wooden fences had been removed from the new hangar site but that was it.

Monarch S14
 

For those interested this is the S14 plan as it stands

Dalaman Daily from 5 wkly. Tue/Wed added
Faro. 6 wkly from 4 wkly. Mon/ Wed added
Gibraltar. 6 wkly from 5 wkly. Sat added
Alicante. 6 wkly from 5 wkly. Fri added
Lanzarote. 2 wkly from 1 wkly. Sun added
Palma. 5 wkly from 3 wkly. Tue / Fri added
Malaga. Daily from 4 wkly. Tue/Wed/ Thur added
Sharm el. 3 wkly from nil. Thur/Sat/Sun added

Rome , Bodrum , Mahon no change

Shame they couldn't keep Munich going for the lakes and mountain folk but back to 5 a/c based is good news

5 based MON is great, I wonder if TOM will respond?

TOM different market.

AENA preparing for London Luton airport takeover
 

AENA preparing for London Luton airport takeover -report | Reuters

LONDON, June 2 (Reuters) - Spanish airport operator AENA is planning to take over London Luton Airport from infrastructure group Abertis, Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported.

AENA, which currently holds a 10 percent stake in the airport, has exercised its right to bid for Abertis' 90 percent holding, it said on Sunday, citing a story from infrastructure newswire Infranews.

A spokesman for AENA declined to comment on the report while Abertis could not be reached for immediate comment.

Under the terms of the ownership pact AENA has first refusal over Abertis' holding, giving it the right to make a bid before any other party, according to the newspaper.

It saw off a rival bid from Australian bank Macquarie, the newspaper reported.

Abertis raised the prospect of selling its airports division earlier this year to focus on toll roads on telecommunications.

London Luton, Britain's fifth largest airport by passenger numbers and home of FTSE 100 airline easyJet, is considered the "jewel" in its portfolio of 29 airports.

AENA preparing for London Luton airport takeover
 

Is that why it has gone all quiet on the planning application ?
Will this lead to a more progressive management style ?
Await with interest the outcome.

This purported move raises a lot of questions.

Undoubtedly, AENA have relations with every airline that operates to its airports in Spain. As it's a Government-owned near-monopoly in Spain, that doesn't necessarily translate into 'good relations'.

Furthermore, Spain is bankrupt, so everything in its public sector is going to be starved of funds, especially overseas assets. Will the Spanish Government really stump up hundreds of millions of euros to a) purchase LTN and b) carry out the improvements it requires to develop further?

c) They can't own the airport anyway, they just operate the lease.

Can't see what's in this for Aena.

I also see LBC are "struggling" financially. Obviously £30m in airport fees isn't enough to balance the books. Maybe they could flog the airport and bring in another £1/2bn?

The FT mention that Abertis are looking for 400m euros to purchase the remaining 90% of the 30 year concession. A figure that AENA has yet to agree.

About Aena - GRUPO AENA - Aena.es - Spanish airports and airspace

Pretty impressive company, not too sure how they have been hit by the financial meltdown in Espania?

400m Euros for 30 years, plus the investment required. Seems cheap compared to MAG purchase price of Stansted!

Didn't they have a falling out with Ryanair because they made Ryanair use air bridges and charged them for the use when Ryanair just wanted steps.