Member Article

Interview: Monarch Airlines chief on flying high with Yorkshire expansion

Bdaily recently reported that Leeds Bradford Airport was confirming 9 new destinations with 7 major airlines - including Monarch Airlines.

Major changes are afoot at Monarch, which is headquartered at Luton, after being sold to Greybull Capital in 2014, and here, Adrian Tighe, chief commercial officer of Monarch Airlines talks to Bdaily about the developments and their expansion into the regions.

Why did Monarch start flying from LBA in 2012?

Monarch began flying from Leeds Bradford Airport to provide more customers with the opportunity to fly with us. Prior to our base at Leeds Bradford customers needed to travel to Manchester to access Monarch’s extensive route network. This gives customers more choice of destination and carrier for leisure travellers flying to and from Yorkshire, to meet customer demand.

Are there plans to expand in the region or nationwide?

We have two new routes launching from Leeds Bradford Airport this year. Flights to Alicante began this week and we will begin flying to Naples from 30th March.

Why do you think it’s important to have a presence in regional airports, rather than just the main London ones?

Our investment in regional airports is important because increased traffic in and out of regional airports is good for local economies and transport links. Monarch is a UK brand, based in Luton which is itself a regional airport. We have a presence at major airports such as London Gatwick and Manchester but being accessible to everyone is very important. We need to match our destinations to our customers’ demands and this includes both regional and London airports.

Why the Italian flight from LBA, presumably it is mainly aimed at holidaymakers, are there any plans to appeal to the business sector?

Monarch is a scheduled, leisure airline so all our destinations are targeted at holidaymakers. There is a strong Italian community in Leeds, with many families of Italian descent, as well as a strong demand for Italian leisure destinations; Naples is the first Italian destination we fly to from LBA.

With our focus on European scheduled leisure destinations, the new route to Naples provides customers with even more variety from their local airport, as well as giving them the options of both beach and city summer breaks. The route network is being developed which means that some destinations which appeal to business passengers, for example, city destinations such as Naples, Nice and Barcelona have increased frequencies. Additionally the extra leg room seats that we offer also provide a product that both leisure and business travellers enjoy.

Why has Monarch made the decision to concentrate on short haul flights rather than long-haul/charter flights? Will that make any impact on regional growth and demand?

Monarch’s network specialises in the ‘heartland’ of scheduled short-haul European destinations and with the focus on short haul flying there will be increased average frequencies. With our new fleet arriving in 2018 we will have a cost-effective fleet serving Monarch’s heartland of scheduled short-haul European leisure routes. We won’t rule out a return to long-haul leisure destinations in the future but our current fleet is ideal for shorter sector flying.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .