Monarch Airlines 737-300

[donnlass]

Please can anyone tell me when Monarch Airlines stopped operating this aircraft?

I looked on Google and the only facts I could find were that they sold some to another operator.

Is this the case with this aircraft and when were they sold?

Thanks lots

[Flightrider]

There are two bits to this story.

Monarch took on 737-300s to replace the 737-200s on charter business in 1986 - their 737-200s were actually quite young by 737-200 standards (and compared to some of the ones Britannia and Dan-Air were flying at the time) but the decision was taken to move up to the 737-300. The aircraft flew in full Monarch colours. They carried on until about 1990 and most winters, they went off to Pacific Western (which then became Canadian) in Canada. If Monarch had any sense nowadays (which is questionable) then they'd still be sending aircraft away in the winter.

The second part of the story is that Monarch operated quite a few additional 737-300s for Euroberlin, a joint venture between Air France and Lufthansa from Berlin. These flew on the G register and the Monarch AOC but in Euroberlin colours, and if I recall correctly, the "charter" Monarch 737-300s also eventually went over into the Euroberlin operation.

Then the Berlin wall collapsed, Germany was re-unified, Lufthansa could fly to Berlin in its own right and Euroberlin was disbanded. The 737-300s disappeared off to various different operators and were never seen again in the Monarch fleet. This was about the time that the mad rush towards larger aircraft like the 757 started with Britannia getting out of 737s, Monarch going for the A300s and more 757s etc. Ironic that Britannia are now well and truly back into 737s and most recent additions to the Monarch fleet are not large aircraft either.

[Skipness One Echo]

Worth mentioning that from around 1994 Monarch moved up into the A320 series and operated a large number of the years, including the larger A321 whic replaced much of the capacity of the B757.

[purplehelmet]

hi donlass.
have you tried typing into google, monarch details and fleet history?
this will take you straight to the monarch page and give you current/historic and whole fleet details,plus loads more.

[clareview]

I have the following information:-

G-DHSW (23495) left Monarch in April 1994, going to Futura as EC635
G-MONF (23497) left Monarch in November 1994 to become N665WN with Southwest (and may still be in service there)
G-MONG (23498) went for a while to an airline called Nordic East before going to Easyjet in January 1996 as G-EZYA.
G-MONH (23685) went via freighter conversion in Aug 1994 to F-GIXJ L'Aeropostale.
G-MONM (24256) became EC-FVJ with Air Europa in October 1993
G-MONN (24029) went to Australia as VH-CZX in December 1993
G-MONP (24028) also went in Aug 1994 for freighter conversion and became F-GIXK with L'Aeropostale.
G-MONV (25023 went to Maersk in March 1996
G-BWJA may have previously been with VIVA in Spain. After Monarch it seems to have spent some time as N956WP with Western Pacific before becoming G- EZYC with Easyjet in May 1997.

[t211]

HI Flightrider, I hope you dont mind putting my two penny worth In You mentioned that Dan-air operated 200Srs B737, I was Flying for the company from 1979 Till It's Demise In 1992 and to my Knowledge we never had B737-200, they operated B737-300, But Please correct me If I am wrong.

[tubby linton]

There was also G-MONL,T, and U, Look on G-info for more information

[purplehelmet]

HI Flightrider, I hope you dont mind putting my two penny worth In You mentioned that Dan-air operated 200Srs B737, I was Flying for the company from 1979 Till It's Demise In 1992 and to my Knowledge we never had B737-200, they operated B737-300, But Please correct me If I am wrong.
t211.
as far as im aware dan-air operated at least 8 737-200s:ok:

[donnlass]

Thanks everyone for your brilliant and informative replies, our model bought today at the TAS Fair at MAN is over 10 years old then.:ok:

G-MONP (24028) also went in Aug 1994 for freighter conversion and became F-GIXK with L'Aeropostale. Be great if it is still flying:D


Lucky find of the model as well:O

[purplehelmet]

Thanks everyone for your brilliant and informative replies, our model bought today at the TAS Fair at MAN is over 10 years old then.:ok:

G-MONP (24028) also went in Aug 1994 for freighter conversion and became F-GIXK with L'Aeropostale. Be great if it is still flying:D


Lucky find of the model as well:O
oh its still flying donnlass, for jet2 as g-celo.

[donnlass]

Thanks Purple Helmet:D:ok::ok:

Does it fly from MAN?

[purplehelmet]

not sure where its based at the moment,but i flew on it out of man a few years back.

[donnlass]

I'll look out for it then when Im there. Jet2 will be getting more attention from us lol:)

[Skipness One Echo]

we never had B737-200, they operated B737-300, But Please correct me If I am wrong.

LHR-INV was on the B732

[Flightrider]

t211 - Dan-Air operated several 737-200s including a number right up to the bitter end. They were the second UK airline (after Orion) to take a 737-300 and then had many 737-400s which survived the BA take-over. -300s never really played much of a part in Dan-Air as the first one (G-SCUH) was a 3B1 powered aircraft which was pretty hopeless from a performance point of view. I'm sure both Orion and Dan crews have long memories of trying to get to Tel Aviv in a B1 powered aircraft and watching the fuel gauges with a degree of apprehension as you tottered past Larnaca at about midnight for the final stretch into Ben Gurion. G-BNNJ was the only other -300 which they ever acquired which was rather better as a -B2 aircraft.

On the -200s, there was G-BJXJ which tended to be based in Berlin as it was the high gross weight aircraft in the fleet which could make it from Berlin to the Canary Islands in one go when the rest of the fleet couldn't. There was G-BKNH which flew for two years with a -15 engine on one side and a -17 engine on the other; G-ILFC which became G-WGEL; G-BLDE and G-BMDF. The -200s flew mostly charter services although one could always be found on LHR-Inverness and others on the weekend Jersey scheduled services when the 1-11-200/300/400s were pensioned off.

[waco]

G-EURP

Flown by some of the best crews I have ever worked with..............
They know who they are !

[Level bust]

I did a jump seat ride with Monarch many years ago to Palermo and Naples from Luton.

The a/c was GEUOP and was operated in full Monarch colours I seem to recall.

It was crewed by 2 ex BA captains who had retired but were working for EuroBerlin . One of the best crews I have flown with.

[IB4138]

G-MONH/F-GIXJ still flying for Europe Air Post.

Whilst they have been operating the aircraft since 1995, it was still a Monarch owned aircraft and leased to EAP until they purchased it in 2005.

[clareview]

Further to my post yesterday, G-DHSW, G-MONH, G-MONN, G-MONP, G-MONM, G-GFUP all seem to have served at some stage as part of the Euroberlin operation.
Adding some additional info:-
G-MONL (24255) seemed to leave the fleet in Nov 1991 to become XA-RJP with Taesa, G-MONT (24026) went to Aeromaritime as F-GHVM in May 1991, G-MONU (24025) became F-GFUB, probably in early 1992, G-EURP (24237) ended up as D-AGEG with Germania (maybe as early as the end of 1990) and G-BNXW (23827) seems to have become LN-NOR Norway Airlines which itself become part of the Air Europe/International Leisure Group

[t211]

Hi Flightrider, Thank you for correcting me My memory must be getting bad If I cant remember what Dan-Air had A sign of old age I'm afraid

[clareview]

Dan Air had a very varied fleet - HS748, BaC1-11, Rombac 1-11, B727, BaC146 (100 and 300 series), Airbus A300, B737-200, B737-300 and B737-400.

The 200 series that I am aware of were:-
G-BJXJ (a 219 model)which left the fleet at the end of 1987
G-BMDF (22875),a 2E7 model
G-BJXL (a 2T4 model)
G-ILFC (22161) which became G-WGEL
G-BKNH (21820) a 210 model when went to Indonesia around May 1993 as PK-RIJ
G-BLDE (22876) a 2E7 model which left in May 1989, probably to also go to Indonesia.

There seem to have only been 3 series 300 machines though it looks like there may have been a couple more on the way before the demise. I have a record of 9 400 series aircraft, again with possibly a couple more due.

[purplehelmet]

Dan Air had a very varied fleet - HS748, BaC1-11, Rombac 1-11, B727, BaC146 (100 and 300 series), Airbus A300, B737-200, B737-300 and B737-400.

could that be part of the problem that lead to the demise of dan-air?
such a varied fleet must have caused a lot of maintenance issues,especially as most of the fleet was quite aged.

[clareview]

I suspect the varied Dan Air fleet was one factor. there was also intense competition at LGW from Air Europe, new charter airlines were arriving on the scene - Inter European, Air 2000, Paramount etc. and the take over of BCal by BA gave it a very dominate position. Dan Air was trying for niche markets.

Dan Air was in the process of updating to more efficient models- BaE 146 to replace 1-11, 737-300 and 400 replacing and 727 and so on. there was also a scare mongering TV programme about the safety record of its B727's.

Whether a bit more time could have tunred things round who knows

[purplehelmet]

there was also a scare mongering TV programme about the safety record of its B727's.

i remember when anyone said they were flying dan-air,
some smart arse would say, "oooh you know what the dan stands for,dangerous and nackered".:E

[Stu666]

I always thought Dan-Air had a very dated image, I wonder if this was another factor in its demise?

[Johnny F@rt Pants]

I'll look out for it then when Im there. Jet2 will be getting more attention from us lol

not sure where its based at the moment,but i flew on it out of man a few years back.

Thanks Purple Helmet Does it fly from MAN?

Not usually, it's EDI based. Very rare for a QC to operate from MAN as there's no mail runs from there. Only ever visit as cover if things go wrong:{.

[donnlass]

Thanks for that:) Oh well, at least its still flying anyway. My fella has a model of it in Monarch colours anyhow:).:ok:

[Mooncrest]

At least one of the ex-Monarch 733s is with Jet2 at LBA, namely G-CELE. I think it has spent a while with Ansett Australia, among others, in the meantime.